The Somerville Community Growing Center is looking at getting a makeover in the near future, thanks to efforts by generous volunteers and funding by the City of Somerville’s Community Preservation Act.

By Jessica Kenney

The Somerville Community Growing Center is a quarter-acre site located by Union Square. It was created twenty years ago as a means of educating people on the environment and hosting cultural performances. It is open to people of all ages and backgrounds, and allows chances to mingle with others, despite cultural or ecological differences. At the Growing Center, people are encouraged to develop ideas and learn through exploring the outdoors. It is also a center for arts and music, a spot people can go to for peace.

Both those that manage the Growing Center and those that attend it are proud of the positive things that make this space enjoyable and cherished in Somerville. But over the past two decades, the Growing Center has changed due to large areas of shade, a cluttered lawn, and decaying structures. It was difficult for those who manage the Center to see it being hindered by these things. They wanted to make sure it remained a positive space for expressing yourself no matter what your background, for learning, and appreciating the environment. Thus, a plan has been put in place to revamp the Growing Center, to allow it to live up to its full potential once again.

Thanks to funding from the City of Somerville’s Community Preservation Act, an eighteen month process to restore the Growing Center has been put in place. The goals of the new design of the space include “increase the yield of food and highlight principles of sustainable urban agriculture at the Growing Center, make community gathering areas more accessible and easier to maintain, and to improve water conservation throughout the site” according to the official plan for redesign. This plan also includes having a diverse population of trees, longer visiting hours, and more educational programs.

Lisa Brukilacchio is the President of the Growing Center, and has overseen all of the plans for its redesign. This plan has been broken down into stages that can be viewed with accompanying diagrams on the Growing Center’s website, www.thegrowingcenter.org.

To give an overview, they first zeroed in on the existing conditions of the things that make up the space. They noted that the wood on certain structures was heavily eroded, especially on the bottom tiers of the structures, which became the target locations. They then set goals for repairs, which included safe access to areas that are currently marked “out of bounds”. They want to install a temporary solution to the problems there, before putting a mock structure in place to ensure the new structure will work well.

It is also important to those that manage this space that the educational value of the Growing Center is being upheld, and to use local or recycled material whenever possible. After conducting research, it was determined how much these repairs would cost, the strength of the material that would be used for the new design, and the availability of these materials. Some ideas for repair design included metal cages, planters, and integrated seating.

The Growing Center has been a peaceful and positive place in the heart of Somerville for two decades. Its goal has been and continues to be a location that allows and encourages expression, acceptance, and education. With the new plan for redesign, these values will be upheld and the Center will continue to thrive.