Community garden vs. lacrosse field

HOLLADAY — Community gardeners and international refugees are clashing with a team of high school lacrosse players over city-owned open space.

The conflict: The lacrosse team needs fields to play on, but building them would require removal of the fire station. Plans for a new station would displace the celebrated garden and halt plans to get schoolchildren involved in growing food.

Three years ago, retired Hill Air Force Base mathematician Doug Stark started growing vegetables and herbs in a vacant plot of land near Olympus Junior High School.

The property had been growing only weeds and blight since 2001, when it was given to Holladay by Salt Lake County.

This spring, the Holladay Community Garden is home to 60 plots and a community movement that aims to bring local organic food to the city.

Refugees from Burundi and Bhutan grow potatoes and romaine lettuce next to the plots cared for by Boy Scouts, an airline pilot and a real estate professional.

Perennial bushes of rosemary, spearmint, kale and thyme are also sprouting in the shared portion of the garden.

Gwyneth McNeil, a holistic healer who's working as liaison between the city and garden, calls the garden therapeutic.

"It helps me clear my head," McNeil said, "and I'm more able to clear the weeds in my own life."

The garden was also recently celebrated by the Salt Lake County Refugee Services office, which held it up as a community-strengthening project for immigrants and longtime residents alike.

"The cool thing about this garden is it gives a way to do good stuff," said Refugee Services director Gerald Brown. "If you're doing it beside someone, the chances are likely you're going to become friends with them."

Stark, the son of an extension horticulturist, said he would like to see the current spot at 2217 Murray-Holladay Road saved as a garden in perpetuity. The unassuming man calls himself "car free" and is passionate about local food and sustainability. He wants to get the nearby junior high school involved in the garden and has plans for potluck events and classes throughout the summer and fall.

But Stark knows his garden project could be over at the end of this growing season.

Holladay officials hope to build a new fire station on the site with federal stimulus money. The municipality already has a master plan drawn up and has held multiple public hearings.

Construction on the new fire station could begin by spring 2010. It would replace a crumbling building near City Hall.

The removal of the old station would make room for a pair of lacrosse-size fields behind the city offices. A few weeks ago, the entire lacrosse team of Olympus High School showed up in uniform to encourage the new fields.