GARDENS AND GREENHOUSES
From Eyesores to Attractions
Below is a Google Maps image of a gas station that once stood at the southwest corner of SW Maynard Road and W Chatham Street. The image was taken in October 2007.
Sometime between April 2015 and March 2016, the station was abandoned and demolished. The land has been advertised as "available" for lease since that time, but has had no tenants. Currently, it's a weed- and litter-filled eyesore. The image below was taken in September 2018.
I propose that the Town acquire the property and allow citizen volunteers to build a garden and greenhouse on it for the benefit of the community.
We in Cary can take a lesson from our friends in Apex whose volunteers run the magnificent Simple Gifts Community Garden. From the Garden's website:
From the beginning, our garden has been open to everyone in the community. Though we are sponsored by Apex United Methodist Church, we are intentionally inclusive of people of all faiths, ages, and abilities. Part of our mission is to reinforce our belief that the things that we all have in common are more important than the things that divide us. Membership in the garden allows people to take a small portion of the day’s harvest on any day that one works.
The majority of the daily harvest goes to local food banks in Apex, Cary, and Holly Springs.
It's well worth a trip out to Apex to see the magnificent Simple Gifts Garden, and to meet Anne Harrison and the folks who have volunteered at the garden for over 10 years. It's at the dead end of Tingen Road — 3109 Tingen Rd., Apex, NC 27502.
As our motor vehicle fleet transitions from gasoline to electricity, more existing gas stations will become unnecessary. The land on which they sat could be used for more community gardens and greenhouses rather than sitting unused for years [as does the land pictured above].
Indeed, the Town's recent [and beautifully produced] video series hosted on Vimeo suggests that Town citizens plant native flowers, bushes, and trees to purify the air, lessen streambed erosion, and absorb stormwater during heavy rainfall. I suggest that the sight of a working garden would also greatly increase the beauty of the area and substantially enrich our quality of life.
Many native plants appropriate for those purposes are expensive, and some are not available in Cary. The legion of Cary citizens who enjoy volunteering on environmentally important projects could use the gardens and greenhouses to raise those plants from seed, thus advancing the Town's stated goal while at the same time enjoying the company of their friends and neighbors in critical work.
