NEW ORLEANS — As the deadline for City Park to finalize its years-long master plan draws near, one nonprofit is pushing back.
Grow Dat Youth Farm has called City Park home for a dozen years, but under the proposed plan it could be eliminated or moved.
A cooperative endeavor agreement between the New Orleans City Park Improvement Association, the state agency that oversees the performance management of the park, and Tulane University established Grow Dat at its current location in 2012.
"Tulane University's CEA with City Park, which expressly permits Grow Dat to operate at the park, is still in place," a university spokesperson said in an email to WWL Louisiana on Thursday.
The agreement shows the term is valid through 2027, but City Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that manages the park, claims that Grow Dat currently does not have an active lease or agreement.
City Park Conservancy did not immediately respond to WWL Louisiana's request for more information regarding the cooperative endeavor agreement.
City Park Conservancy CEO, Cara Lambright, said the team collected survey results from 5,000 people about what they wanted to see change in City Park.
After combing through those results and meeting with design teams Lambright said they plan to focus on water management, pedestrian and cyclist safety and accessibility, and connecting areas that have been underutilized.
One area in particular is at the north end of the park. The Conservancy refers to it as "The Wooded Island."
To connect the south end to the north end, while avoiding the railroad and I-10, is to cut through Grow Dat, Lambright said.
“This underpass right here is our one chance to get to the north side of the park," Lambright said pointing at a map, “Unfortunately, it intersects right where Grow Dat is. We've known that for a really long time. We love urban farming. We love the mission and the core values, so it has nothing to do with the program. It is quite simply the one way to connect the south side of the park to the north side of the park and to do it in a safe manner."
Volunteer and Grow Dat Youth Farm Advocate, Annette Hollowell, said they want to see Grow Dat stay where it is.
“Planning for a future of City Park that doesn’t include Grow Dat in it would really be a travesty," Hollowell said, “Anybody that works with the land knows that you don’t just pick up a growing project, you don’t just pick up a farm and move it. It takes years of investment to get the soil to the right health. To be able to grow healthy foods. Grow Dat produces 50,000 pounds of food a year.”
Hollowell also pointed out that Grow Dat employs youth and adults.
The urban farm takes up 1.5 of City Park's 1,300 acres, according to Grow Dat.
Hollowell says she and others plan to speak out at City Park's next public meeting.
“I’ll speak on behalf of the friends of Grow Dat, what we want is for Grow Dat to stay where it is and to have a long-term agreement that secures Grow Dat’s place on this land that they’ve already invested so much time and energy into," Hollowell said.
The Conservancy says Thursday's meeting is the third of six public meetings. They plan to pass the final master plan in December, Lambright said.
Once the plans are approved and funding is secured, projects will begin. Lambright estimates it will cost around $300 million.
"It really is a wild guess number," Lambright said.
WWL Louisiana would like to disclose that Grow Dat was a 2022 recipient of the TEGNA Foundation Grant, the parent company of WWL-TV.
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