Overview
Through this call for design services, Frogtown Gardens, Inc. is seeking a consultant to create a plan for a 5-acre farm. The farm is part of a larger 12.7-acre park owned by the City of Saint Paul. The park is comprised of the farm, a 3.2-acre recreation area; and a 4.5-acre nature sanctuary.
Project Description and Background
At the heart of Frogtown is a vacant 13-acre parcel of land currently owned by the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation and under agreement to be owned by the City of Saint Paul by December 2013. It is the vision of the residents, the community and the City to transform this site into a new public park, nature preserve and demonstration site for urban agriculture.
The future park and farm has many social, economic, and environmental benefits: it will be a catalyst for residents to grow their own healthy foods, boost the neighborhood’s economic potential, protect the environment, provide areas for healthy recreation, and further empower a community to become active participants in improving their neighborhood. The vision statement adopted by the Frogtown Gardens Board of Directors says:
Rooted in values of social equity, justice, and inter-connectedness; this urban farm on the hill serves as a model for multi-cultural community and a catalyst for economic development, wealth creation, community pride, and sustainability.
Frogtown, historically a working class neighborhood, has a median household income of $28,800. More than 40 percent of its residents live below the poverty level, yet Frogtown is culturally rich, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Saint Paul. Nearly half of Frogtown residents are younger than 15. Residents are African American, Asian, and Latino or white, in roughly equal numbers. The community is home to Vietnamese, Hmong, Latino, Somali, Oromo, Kenyan, and other immigrants. About 15,000 people live within the neighborhood boundaries of Lexington Avenue (west), University Avenue (south), Marion Street (east) and Pierce Butler Route (north).
Frogtown has less green space per child (.006 acres per child) than any other Saint Paul neighborhood, according to studies in 2010 and 2011. The City of Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Department named Frogtown as one of two areas in the city most in need of a new park.
The new park will have three primary components:
Recreation Area – The eastern 3 acres of the Property, intended for open active recreation and to be designed by the City’s Design and Construction Division.
Nature Sanctuary – The northern 4 acres of the property that preserves the existing open space and tree canopy for passive recreation, to be designed by the City’s Design and Construction Division.
The Farm – The highest and central segment of 5 acres of the Property that is intended to be leased to Frogtown Gardens for the Project and is the subject for design services within this RFQ.
See the full RFQ here: http://bit.ly/frogtownfarm
