Let's Save Michigan

Community Garden Resource Shed, Kalamazoo

About the Project

In Kalamazoo’s Eastside Neighborhood, the Land Bank owns 5 adjacent, now vacant properties. These 5 properties take up almost the entire block, which was once a site for abandoned houses. In the last 3 years, 3 of these properties were demolished because of severe blight. The Land Bank has worked with local residents and the Eastside Neighborhood Association to put life back into this block. The once blighted block is now the home of an attractive community garden site, Trybal Revival Community Eco-Garden, which spans over 3 of the properties, and the Community Garden Resource Shed.

This past fall, with the help of over 50 volunteers, ranging from Eastside Neighborhood residents to local university students, a Community Garden Resource Shed was built where a condemned house once stood on the block. The shed is now the home to garden tools and resources, many donated by the local Lowe’s, that can be loaned by community members to use on garden and beautification projects in Kalamazoo.

It is the intent of the Land Bank to enhance the Eastside Neighborhood by dedicating one block to public urban greenspace. On this site, the funds will be dedicated to enhance the Community Garden Resource Shed, built in 2011 and a hub for Kalamazoo community gardeners to network and share resources, to improve the entryway through plantings and a walkway.

The Community Garden Resource Shed now houses more than $5,000 worth of tools for gardeners to use on community beautification and garden projects in Kalamazoo. During the shed’s grand opening on April 21, 2012, more than 100 gardeners and interested residents came out to see the project and witness the ribbon cutting by the City of Kalamazoo’s mayor. In just 13 days, since the opening day, more than 15 tools have been loaned out to gardeners working on community garden projects to enhance their own neighborhood blocks.

The Community Garden Resource Shed is a huge improvement from the blighted building that once stood at 1519 E. Michigan Avenue. As you will notice from the pictures, the shed is a very attractive building. With funds from the placemaking grant, the shed will be landscaped with a more accessible pathway leading to the front door surrounded by attractive perennial plantings. East Michigan Avenue is a high traffic corridor into the city of Kalamazoo, and landscaping would give the shed a more inviting curb appeal, attracting passersby to inquire, and ultimately learn more about community gardening and the resources available to transform their own blocks and neighborhoods.