The seeds of a permanent Columbia Farmers Market and urban garden were planted Monday night.
The Columbia City Council unanimously approved a plan for the market and urban garden at Clary-Shy Community Park during its meeting on Monday. The Clary-Shy Improvement Project was approved following a public hearing, during which several community members praised the plan and urged its approval.
Phase 1 of the project includes the construction of a pavilion that will allow the Columbia Farmers Market to operate year-round. The farmers market has been held at Clary-Shy Park, located at 1701 W. Ash St. next to the Activity and Recreation Center, since 1980.
The market is open from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays from mid-March to mid-November. It operates from 9 a.m. to noon at the Parkade Center, 601 Business Loop 70 West, from mid-November to mid-March. Once built, the permanent market will operate year-round at Clary-Shy Park from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and 12 hours per week on weekdays.
John Corn, the president of the Columbia Farmers Market, was adamant in his support for the project. Corn talked about the growth of the farmers market since it began in 1980. He said that the demand for locally-produced food has become year-round and that this project is necessary to keep up with the demand.
“We envision this farmers market being a must-stop place,” Corn said.
Phase 1 of the project will construct a pavilion that will provide a covered space for up to 40 vendors and a 30-foot-wide shopping aisle for customers. The master plan calls for an additional 58 covered stalls for vendors to be created in future phases. The pavilion will be named the “MU Health Care Pavilion.” MU Health Care agreed to a 10-year sponsorship and made a $495,000 donation.
The first phase also includes the creation of an urban garden, additional parking spaces and outdoor education facilities. The Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture estimates that the harvest of fruit and vegetables at the urban garden will result in over 50,000 pounds of food annually, which will be donated to the Columbia Food Bank.
Billy Polanski, executive director of the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, said the urban garden will be a valuable educational tool. Polanski told the council that he envisions the urban garden being a popular field trip destination for students and that the urban garden will encourage agricultural education and improve community health.
“We are 100 percent behind this,” Polanski said.
Build This Town is an organization that has supported the construction of an urban garden in Columbia. Its campaign director, Adam Saunders, was excited to see more than two years of fundraising and planning come to fruition.
“Today is an important milestone in this whole project to build an agriculture park which is adjacent to the ARC here in central Columbia,” Saunders said. “This will authorize the next step in funding allocation, update the master plan and just keep this good project moving forward.”
The total budget for the first phase of the improvement project is $1.47 million. This budget includes the donation from MU Health Care, as well as $400,000 in park sales tax funds and $574,565 from the city’s designated loan fund. The designated loan funds will be repaid over three years through the fundraising of the Friends of the Farm Partnership.
Earlier this year, the council accepted a $700,000 grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health for project funding. The city is also expecting to receive a $400,000 Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.
Friends of the Farm comprises the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, the Columbia Farmers Market, Sustainable Farms and Communities and Columbia Parks and Recreation. Friends of the Farm has fundraised $170,000 for the project and has received $664,830 in pledges over the next 10 years. Friends of the Farm expects to raise more money as the project progresses past the first phase.
The group has been working to create a master plan for the agriculture park since spring of 2016. In August 2016, there were three interested parties meetings at the park as well as an online survey, resulting in 18 pages of comments regarding the proposed plan.
The master plan for the project also calls for the construction of a playground, a stage for musical performances, a pedestrian plaza and a system of trails throughout the park to allow for the creation of fitness loops, according to a city staff memo to council.
Multiple council members were effusive in their support for the project.
Third Ward Councilman Karl Skala said, “What’s not to like?,” and called the project a “win-win-win-win situation.”
Construction on the first phase of the project is expected to begin in spring 2018 and be completed by fall 2019. Future phases will be presented to the council as more money is raised.