I just received an email from Brian Gleichauf of Rogers Park Green Space and Food Systems Coalition explaining Loyola's plans for the property where Sophia Garden used to sit. Here is what he had to say:
1) According to Loyola, Village Green (the developer who was originally planning to lease and develop the property) will still develop this land.
2) Jennifer Clark says that Loyola is "financially unable to develop the land for university use right now," which is why they are leasing it out for private residences.
3) Jennifer implies that community forums held from 2002-2004 are valid and recent input that, because we did not give feedback then, make our claims somehow invalid.
We are all saddened and frustrated by the loss of Sophia, but we still hope to work with Loyola to create new green space in Rogers Park. It isn't too late to write Ms. Clark (jclark7@luc.edu) and ask Loyola to support our efforts.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
An open wound in Roger's Park
Sadly, Loyola bulldozed Sophia Garden this week. The building next door was scheduled to be demolished, but is still standing. I am not sure what Loyola has planned for the future of the space, but many neighbor's and community organizers are working together to find a new space for the Garden. Please check back for more details.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Reminder: Community Lantern Walk Tomorrow
Just a quick reminder that a Lantern Walk will be held tomorrow for neighbors in support of saving Sophia Garden. We will be gathering at Uncommon Ground and will be departing for the walk at 6:30pm. If you can join us please arrive a few minutes early so we can pass out lanterns and get them lit!
If you don't want to participate in the walk, but would like to sign our petition, you can also come by at 6:30.
If you don't want to participate in the walk, but would like to sign our petition, you can also come by at 6:30.
Something Amazing
Hundreds of neighbors have shown their support for keeping Sophia Garden alive by tying ribbons along the garden's fence. If you haven't tied yours yet, please stop by.
Notes from our communtity meeting
Below are notes from an October 14th community meeting held to discuss green space in Rogers Park. There is a brief history of Sophia Park and then suggestions made by attendees. Please feel free to comment or make suggestions.
Rogers Park Green Space and Food Systems Coalition
Community Meeting, October 14th, 2008
Summary of Meeting
On October 14, 2008, approximately 40 people gathered in Rogers Park to voice concerns and exchange ideas about the impending loss of the Sophia Garden, a thriving urban green space owned by Loyola University. The meeting was organized by the Rogers Park Green Space andFood Systems Coalition.
The meeting began with a history of the garden, presented by members of the garden’s
leadership team: Brian Gleichauf and Patricia Holdrege, of the Chicago Waldorf School;
Mary Black of the Marjorie Kovler Center for the Treatment of Survivors of Torture;and Thea Maria Carlson of the Angelic Organics Learning Center in Chicago. Attending the meeting were a wide variety of Rogers Park community members, including business owners, local garden group members, Chicago Waldorf School parents and staff, Loyola students, clients and staff of the Marjorie Kovler Center and Heartland Alliance, and other concerned neighbors.
History
The Sophia Garden sits west of the Loyola el stop on land that is owned by Loyola University.Since 1997, Loyola has allowed the Chicago Waldorf School, which emphasizes gardening and nature in its curriculum, to use the land as a garden, free of charge. Since its creation, the Sophia Garden has grown into an immensely productive vegetable, fruit and flower garden, and a thriving ecosystem of native plants, bees, grasshoppers, butterflies, and local and migrating birds. The garden is complete with raised beds, a tool shed, compost piles, carved stone sculptures, and colorful painted panels. Over the years, the Chicago Waldorf School has teamed with other local organizations—including the St. Ignatius Food Pantry, the Kovler Center, and the Angelic Organics Learning Center—to share the bounty and beauty of the garden. Visible
from the Loyola el platform, the Sophia Garden has become a beautiful and unique green space for the Rogers Park neighborhood and Loyola University community to enjoy.
From its initial loan of the garden space, Loyola was upfront with the Chicago Waldorf School that the university would someday develop the site, at which point the garden would have to move. In 2007, Loyola informed CWS that the plan for a mixed use residential/retail building would break ground on November 1, 2008. The demolition of the building at 1225 W Loyola Ave immediately east of the garden site, was also slated for that date.
In response to the development plan, the garden leadership team has spent the past six months working on many levels to identify alternate locations for the Sophia Garden. But vacant and available land is scarce in Rogers Park, and no site has yet been secured. The Waldorf School has since removed three sections of concrete in front of the school and has moved a small portion of the plants and soil Sophia Garden to this new location, but the hopes of maintaining a larger garden remain.
Recently, Loyola has communicated that the development of the actual site of the Sophia Garden has been postponed. The university has, however, maintained its November 1st deadline for the Chicago Waldorf School to end use of the garden. The demolition of the building east of the garden will proceed, and the university plans to use the garden site as a staging area for demolition equipment.
In light of Loyola’s delaying development of the site, and in response to the growing community interest to protect the garden, the leadership team called this October 14th meeting to form a broader neighborhood coalition, share ideas and plan next steps in maintaining green space and sustainable food systems in Rogers Park.
Themes of the Meeting
As meeting attendees shared thoughts and visions relating to the garden, two main themes emerged:
(1) The community is passionate about the Sophia Garden and the green space it
provides, and (2) The garden provides Loyola with a valuable asset that could help position the university as a leader in the sustainability movement.
1. Community Passion for Sophia Garden and the Importance of Green Space for the
Community Neighbors of the garden shared their deep appreciation for the garden and the importance for designated green space in the neighborhood. The Garden as a Community Builder: Several residents explained how the garden adds value to the community and has the potential to bring neighbors together. One resident described how he stops by the garden every day on his way to work. “The garden is a center point for neighbors to start talking to one another,” he said. “So many people are mourning the loss of the garden.” Several parents communicated the value of having an open green space for their children to visit and explore. The Sophia Garden has also been a place for many people with diverse backgrounds to garden together. The Kovler Center, for example, helps refugees and survivors of torture from around the world; in the Sophia Garden, they have been able to reconnect with agricultural skills from their home countries and share knowledge with others in the garden. One new Rogers Park
resident who recently helped develop a recycling program at the University of Ohio suggested that a garden/green space has great potential for creating jobs within a community. The Garden as a Spiritual Connection: The garden is a place of the spirit; green space feeds the soul. One meeting participant suggested that, as a Catholic institution, Loyola University is in the position of fostering that spiritual connection for the community. Attendees agreed that holding an upcoming community lantern walk in the garden would be a good way to illustrate community support for the garden and represent the spiritual significance of this greenspace [the lantern walk is scheduled for Thursday, October 23, beginning at Uncommon Ground at
6:30pm].
The Garden as Classroom: Loyola students attending the meeting described environmental
courses at Loyola that could be connected to the garden, such as the new Solutions to
Environmental Problems (STEP): Food Systems course, which will be offered by the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Policy (CUERP) beginning in the Spring 2009 Semester. Student projects through the course will explore, how to make food systems more sustainable, including “envisioning and planning a campus garden.” One Loyola student active in a student group exploring local food and urban agriculture explained that the garden is important to many Loyola students. Another meeting attendee noted that Loyola also has continuing education classes that explore “green” issues, such as eating locally. In addition, students at the Chicago Waldorf School attend gardening classes as part of their grade school curriculum, and Waldorf
kindergarten children regularly play in the garden during their recess time.
The Garden as Therapy: Local social service providers have used the Sophia Garden as a place to support their work with clients. A Kovler Center staff member who attended the meeting said the garden is “very important” to her job. “It’s a tool for community support for program participants…to socialize, break the loneliness and isolation, and feel like a part of the community.”
2. The Sophia Garden and adjacent land provide Loyola University an opportunity to
position itself as a leader in the sustainability movement.
A number of attendees voiced urgency in helping Loyola University to see that the Sophia Garden and land surrounding it are more valuable as a green asset than as another mixed-use development in our urban landscape. A main theme of the evening was that local farming and sustainable food systems are timely social, environmental and political issues. Two days before this community meeting, the New York Times Magazine featured an article, written by Michael Pollan, exploring the measures the next President of the United States should take to reform our nation’s food and farming policies. The article addresses how a new food policy based on local, sustainable food systems can help remedy many of our country’s ills, from the national health care crisis to the energy crisis and climate change.
Loyola students at the meeting shared information about existing environmental classes at the university and the potential for connecting even more university courses to the garden. Many at the meeting said they would like to see Loyola use the garden and adjacent land to to create a cutting-edge university program in sustainability/environmentalism rather than more residential and retail space.
Meeting participants were enthusiastic about communicating their support and vision with Loyola, and agreed that it is important to communicate with the university in a spirit of partnership, not antagonistically.
Actions
There were several calls to action among meeting participants, who brainstormed ways the community could support the garden.
•
Write letters to Loyola University before November 1. (Mary Black will help consolidate
key points to keep our message cohesive as a group.) Identify Loyola contacts to receive letters, as well as Loyola contacts who would be supportive of continued use of the garden for their own coursework, including professors from various disciplines related to sustainable food systems/environmental studies
•
Write up ideas/plan in form of business plan to present to Loyola—show that garden has
sustainable business possibilities (Peter, Loyola student)
•
Provide evidence to Loyola of comparable university programs in sustainability, food
systems and environmental issues.
•
Create and circulate a petition
•
Create blogs with photos of garden
•
Create and distribute Flyers
•
Create compelling visual statement to illustrate support for garden (i.e., distribute green ribbon to tie on fence)
•
Produce lantern walk in the garden (Sue Smock-Lawson and CWS contacts) – Scheduled
for Thursday, October 23 at 6:30pm.
•
Follow-up meeting (in garden or other site?) to widen base of action. Uncommon Ground
offered space for holding meetings.
•
Connect with other organizations that might be potential partners in building this
movement: Chicago Department of the Environment, Talking Farm, city of Evanston,
Chicago Botanic Garden, NeighborSpace, Slow Food Nation, Urban Habitat, Chicago,
More Loyola students and neighbors, Media (Uncommon Ground beekeeper works at
Tribune), Sadhu Johnson (Mayor’s sustainability expert, lives in Rogers Park), LEED
certification of neighborhoods (Susan Mudd) and others
How to help:
Anyone who would like to get involved can join the Rogers Park Green Space and Food Systems Coalition google group at http://groups.google.com/group/rp-green-space-food-sys or contact Brian at bgleichauf@gmail.com or 773.610.4213
There we are.
Rogers Park Green Space and Food Systems Coalition
Community Meeting, October 14th, 2008
Summary of Meeting
On October 14, 2008, approximately 40 people gathered in Rogers Park to voice concerns and exchange ideas about the impending loss of the Sophia Garden, a thriving urban green space owned by Loyola University. The meeting was organized by the Rogers Park Green Space andFood Systems Coalition.
The meeting began with a history of the garden, presented by members of the garden’s
leadership team: Brian Gleichauf and Patricia Holdrege, of the Chicago Waldorf School;
Mary Black of the Marjorie Kovler Center for the Treatment of Survivors of Torture;and Thea Maria Carlson of the Angelic Organics Learning Center in Chicago. Attending the meeting were a wide variety of Rogers Park community members, including business owners, local garden group members, Chicago Waldorf School parents and staff, Loyola students, clients and staff of the Marjorie Kovler Center and Heartland Alliance, and other concerned neighbors.
History
The Sophia Garden sits west of the Loyola el stop on land that is owned by Loyola University.Since 1997, Loyola has allowed the Chicago Waldorf School, which emphasizes gardening and nature in its curriculum, to use the land as a garden, free of charge. Since its creation, the Sophia Garden has grown into an immensely productive vegetable, fruit and flower garden, and a thriving ecosystem of native plants, bees, grasshoppers, butterflies, and local and migrating birds. The garden is complete with raised beds, a tool shed, compost piles, carved stone sculptures, and colorful painted panels. Over the years, the Chicago Waldorf School has teamed with other local organizations—including the St. Ignatius Food Pantry, the Kovler Center, and the Angelic Organics Learning Center—to share the bounty and beauty of the garden. Visible
from the Loyola el platform, the Sophia Garden has become a beautiful and unique green space for the Rogers Park neighborhood and Loyola University community to enjoy.
From its initial loan of the garden space, Loyola was upfront with the Chicago Waldorf School that the university would someday develop the site, at which point the garden would have to move. In 2007, Loyola informed CWS that the plan for a mixed use residential/retail building would break ground on November 1, 2008. The demolition of the building at 1225 W Loyola Ave immediately east of the garden site, was also slated for that date.
In response to the development plan, the garden leadership team has spent the past six months working on many levels to identify alternate locations for the Sophia Garden. But vacant and available land is scarce in Rogers Park, and no site has yet been secured. The Waldorf School has since removed three sections of concrete in front of the school and has moved a small portion of the plants and soil Sophia Garden to this new location, but the hopes of maintaining a larger garden remain.
Recently, Loyola has communicated that the development of the actual site of the Sophia Garden has been postponed. The university has, however, maintained its November 1st deadline for the Chicago Waldorf School to end use of the garden. The demolition of the building east of the garden will proceed, and the university plans to use the garden site as a staging area for demolition equipment.
In light of Loyola’s delaying development of the site, and in response to the growing community interest to protect the garden, the leadership team called this October 14th meeting to form a broader neighborhood coalition, share ideas and plan next steps in maintaining green space and sustainable food systems in Rogers Park.
Themes of the Meeting
As meeting attendees shared thoughts and visions relating to the garden, two main themes emerged:
(1) The community is passionate about the Sophia Garden and the green space it
provides, and (2) The garden provides Loyola with a valuable asset that could help position the university as a leader in the sustainability movement.
1. Community Passion for Sophia Garden and the Importance of Green Space for the
Community Neighbors of the garden shared their deep appreciation for the garden and the importance for designated green space in the neighborhood. The Garden as a Community Builder: Several residents explained how the garden adds value to the community and has the potential to bring neighbors together. One resident described how he stops by the garden every day on his way to work. “The garden is a center point for neighbors to start talking to one another,” he said. “So many people are mourning the loss of the garden.” Several parents communicated the value of having an open green space for their children to visit and explore. The Sophia Garden has also been a place for many people with diverse backgrounds to garden together. The Kovler Center, for example, helps refugees and survivors of torture from around the world; in the Sophia Garden, they have been able to reconnect with agricultural skills from their home countries and share knowledge with others in the garden. One new Rogers Park
resident who recently helped develop a recycling program at the University of Ohio suggested that a garden/green space has great potential for creating jobs within a community. The Garden as a Spiritual Connection: The garden is a place of the spirit; green space feeds the soul. One meeting participant suggested that, as a Catholic institution, Loyola University is in the position of fostering that spiritual connection for the community. Attendees agreed that holding an upcoming community lantern walk in the garden would be a good way to illustrate community support for the garden and represent the spiritual significance of this greenspace [the lantern walk is scheduled for Thursday, October 23, beginning at Uncommon Ground at
6:30pm].
The Garden as Classroom: Loyola students attending the meeting described environmental
courses at Loyola that could be connected to the garden, such as the new Solutions to
Environmental Problems (STEP): Food Systems course, which will be offered by the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Policy (CUERP) beginning in the Spring 2009 Semester. Student projects through the course will explore, how to make food systems more sustainable, including “envisioning and planning a campus garden.” One Loyola student active in a student group exploring local food and urban agriculture explained that the garden is important to many Loyola students. Another meeting attendee noted that Loyola also has continuing education classes that explore “green” issues, such as eating locally. In addition, students at the Chicago Waldorf School attend gardening classes as part of their grade school curriculum, and Waldorf
kindergarten children regularly play in the garden during their recess time.
The Garden as Therapy: Local social service providers have used the Sophia Garden as a place to support their work with clients. A Kovler Center staff member who attended the meeting said the garden is “very important” to her job. “It’s a tool for community support for program participants…to socialize, break the loneliness and isolation, and feel like a part of the community.”
2. The Sophia Garden and adjacent land provide Loyola University an opportunity to
position itself as a leader in the sustainability movement.
A number of attendees voiced urgency in helping Loyola University to see that the Sophia Garden and land surrounding it are more valuable as a green asset than as another mixed-use development in our urban landscape. A main theme of the evening was that local farming and sustainable food systems are timely social, environmental and political issues. Two days before this community meeting, the New York Times Magazine featured an article, written by Michael Pollan, exploring the measures the next President of the United States should take to reform our nation’s food and farming policies. The article addresses how a new food policy based on local, sustainable food systems can help remedy many of our country’s ills, from the national health care crisis to the energy crisis and climate change.
Loyola students at the meeting shared information about existing environmental classes at the university and the potential for connecting even more university courses to the garden. Many at the meeting said they would like to see Loyola use the garden and adjacent land to to create a cutting-edge university program in sustainability/environmentalism rather than more residential and retail space.
Meeting participants were enthusiastic about communicating their support and vision with Loyola, and agreed that it is important to communicate with the university in a spirit of partnership, not antagonistically.
Actions
There were several calls to action among meeting participants, who brainstormed ways the community could support the garden.
•
Write letters to Loyola University before November 1. (Mary Black will help consolidate
key points to keep our message cohesive as a group.) Identify Loyola contacts to receive letters, as well as Loyola contacts who would be supportive of continued use of the garden for their own coursework, including professors from various disciplines related to sustainable food systems/environmental studies
•
Write up ideas/plan in form of business plan to present to Loyola—show that garden has
sustainable business possibilities (Peter, Loyola student)
•
Provide evidence to Loyola of comparable university programs in sustainability, food
systems and environmental issues.
•
Create and circulate a petition
•
Create blogs with photos of garden
•
Create and distribute Flyers
•
Create compelling visual statement to illustrate support for garden (i.e., distribute green ribbon to tie on fence)
•
Produce lantern walk in the garden (Sue Smock-Lawson and CWS contacts) – Scheduled
for Thursday, October 23 at 6:30pm.
•
Follow-up meeting (in garden or other site?) to widen base of action. Uncommon Ground
offered space for holding meetings.
•
Connect with other organizations that might be potential partners in building this
movement: Chicago Department of the Environment, Talking Farm, city of Evanston,
Chicago Botanic Garden, NeighborSpace, Slow Food Nation, Urban Habitat, Chicago,
More Loyola students and neighbors, Media (Uncommon Ground beekeeper works at
Tribune), Sadhu Johnson (Mayor’s sustainability expert, lives in Rogers Park), LEED
certification of neighborhoods (Susan Mudd) and others
How to help:
Anyone who would like to get involved can join the Rogers Park Green Space and Food Systems Coalition google group at http://groups.google.com/group/rp-green-space-food-sys or contact Brian at bgleichauf@gmail.com or 773.610.4213
There we are.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Please forward your letters to Loyola's president
Those who are inspired to write letters, please forward them to the president of Loyola University:
Michael J. Garanzini, S.J.
Office of the President
Loyola University Chicago
820 N. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
email: mgaranz@luc.edu
You could also send a copy of your letter to Michael Brosko and Jennifer Clark at the address posted in a previous entry below.
Please make sure your letter has a POSITIVE tone and that you include a SPECIFIC REQUEST in your own words that Loyola can carry out.
Here's an example of a request:
"We have learned from Loyola University staff that development of the property that currently houses the Sophia garden has been postponed due to the current economic crisis. In light of this situation, we request that Loyola conducts the demolition of 1201-1225 W. Loyola
Avenue in a way that minimizes harm to the existing garden, and that the community is invited to provide input on and suggestions for future development of the W Loyola Avenue property."
Some more suggestions for your letters from Mary Black of the Kovler Center:
Keep positive! Loyola has allowed use of their land for last 10 years for which we are thankful.
This has allowed growth not only of garden for Waldorf, but of larger Rogers Park Community. We would like to continue to develop garden with community involvement and with support of Loyola.
Share specific ideas for potential collaborations consistent with Loyola's mission.
We welcome opportunity to build on future collaborations with Loyola -- partnerships that could advance existing curriculum, values and mission of Loyola.
Examples:
Environmental Sciences
Community Service and Ministry
Promotion of Urban Agriculture
Food Security
Encouragement of BioDiversity
Community Building/Sharing
Highlight what would be mutually beneficial for Loyola to contribute to the neighborhood and vice versa.
This is opportuntity for Loyola to promote unique programming in urban campus setting.
Accentuate strength and interest in community. Offer examples from your perspective/experiences.
There is a strong groundswell of neighborhood support to maintain and further develop space.
Support from e.g.Loyola student groups, families with children, primary and secondary education students and their parents, teachers, immigrant and refugee community members, gardeners, local business owners, local politicians, artists and countless community members who enjoy the respite and biodiversity the garden offers,not otherwise available.
Note that other avenues are being explored concurrent with request for maintaining Sofia Garden space. Numerous alternatives have been explored for local land and/or nove spaces, (e.g, rooftops)
There is a paucity of available local space. It would be a grave loss if Sofia space is left fallow.
Michael Brosko, Associate Director of Capital Planning
Jennifer Clark, Director of Community Relations
Loyola University Chicago
820 N. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
Michael J. Garanzini, S.J.
Office of the President
Loyola University Chicago
820 N. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
email: mgaranz@luc.edu
You could also send a copy of your letter to Michael Brosko and Jennifer Clark at the address posted in a previous entry below.
Please make sure your letter has a POSITIVE tone and that you include a SPECIFIC REQUEST in your own words that Loyola can carry out.
Here's an example of a request:
"We have learned from Loyola University staff that development of the property that currently houses the Sophia garden has been postponed due to the current economic crisis. In light of this situation, we request that Loyola conducts the demolition of 1201-1225 W. Loyola
Avenue in a way that minimizes harm to the existing garden, and that the community is invited to provide input on and suggestions for future development of the W Loyola Avenue property."
Some more suggestions for your letters from Mary Black of the Kovler Center:
Keep positive! Loyola has allowed use of their land for last 10 years for which we are thankful.
This has allowed growth not only of garden for Waldorf, but of larger Rogers Park Community. We would like to continue to develop garden with community involvement and with support of Loyola.
Share specific ideas for potential collaborations consistent with Loyola's mission.
We welcome opportunity to build on future collaborations with Loyola -- partnerships that could advance existing curriculum, values and mission of Loyola.
Examples:
Environmental Sciences
Community Service and Ministry
Promotion of Urban Agriculture
Food Security
Encouragement of BioDiversity
Community Building/Sharing
Highlight what would be mutually beneficial for Loyola to contribute to the neighborhood and vice versa.
This is opportuntity for Loyola to promote unique programming in urban campus setting.
Accentuate strength and interest in community. Offer examples from your perspective/experiences.
There is a strong groundswell of neighborhood support to maintain and further develop space.
Support from e.g.Loyola student groups, families with children, primary and secondary education students and their parents, teachers, immigrant and refugee community members, gardeners, local business owners, local politicians, artists and countless community members who enjoy the respite and biodiversity the garden offers,not otherwise available.
Note that other avenues are being explored concurrent with request for maintaining Sofia Garden space. Numerous alternatives have been explored for local land and/or nove spaces, (e.g, rooftops)
There is a paucity of available local space. It would be a grave loss if Sofia space is left fallow.
Michael Brosko, Associate Director of Capital Planning
Jennifer Clark, Director of Community Relations
Loyola University Chicago
820 N. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
A few thoughts on community space
Over the weekend, I was walking through Sophia Garden when a woman who teaches at Loyola came over to talk about the garden's impending closing. She told me she has mixed feelings about the closing because she has been composting there for the last three years, but she also knows that Loyola has been expanding and needs more space. She told me about Loyola's commitment to green technology, mentioning a new building that is LEED certified with lots of green space.
This conversation has me thinking about the difference between community space and campus space. I think it is great that Loyola has built green space and efficient buildings into its campus, but this is not a substitute for Sophia. I have met countless neighbors, students and now a faculty member in the space because it encourages a diverse range of people to come together. I believe that our neighborhood is enriched by Loyola's student population and that the student population is enriched by the diversity of the neighborhood. Public spaces allow for these two populations to intermix.
As a graduate student at Columbia College, I know how insular academia can be. I hope that Loyola can recognize the ways community spaces like Sophia Garden provide a location for the diverse paths of a single community to overlap.
This conversation has me thinking about the difference between community space and campus space. I think it is great that Loyola has built green space and efficient buildings into its campus, but this is not a substitute for Sophia. I have met countless neighbors, students and now a faculty member in the space because it encourages a diverse range of people to come together. I believe that our neighborhood is enriched by Loyola's student population and that the student population is enriched by the diversity of the neighborhood. Public spaces allow for these two populations to intermix.
As a graduate student at Columbia College, I know how insular academia can be. I hope that Loyola can recognize the ways community spaces like Sophia Garden provide a location for the diverse paths of a single community to overlap.
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