Downtown Visions dedicated a new community garden on 4th and Orange Streets in downtown Wilmington today.
The new 16-plot garden replaces the community garden on Market Street displaced by a fire last year.
It repurposes a lot where Gross Lighting Center stood for over a century before it was demolished following a fire in 2013.
Marty Hageman of Downtown Visions says the community garden is part of the group’s Main Street program to revitalize the Business Improvement District.
And Hageman says it isn’t just good for economic development—it benefits local residents too.
“It’s kind of a great place for the downtown residents to meet, to socialize, to grow fresh vegetables in basically what is a food desert as it relates to fresh vegetables,” he said.
Civic Association member and director of The Grand Mark Fields says it’ll build connections.
“As people walk by, as they’re waiting for the bus … it’s an opportunity to stop and have a conversation. So it’s not just vegetables and fruit that are growing in this garden, but a community of downtown residents that are eventually going to become an interwoven fabric,” he said.
The garden was spearheaded by Downtown Visions, in partnership with the Downtown Civic Association and the Kiwanis Club.
The neighboring Salvation Army has several plots in the garden. Development Director Carl Colantuono says they’ll be used to grow vegetables to send home with the children and seniors the Salvation Army serve.
The garden received donations and financial support from Bank of America, Wohlsen Construction Company, Rave Realty Company, and Buccini-Pollin Group.
The garden plans to eventually expand to 24 plots, and has only one plot left open for this season. Plots cost $40 plus $25 key deposit per season, and can be rented through the Downtown Civic Association.
