Community Garden Could Come to Cottageville Park

could get a community garden—at least for a year.

The garden would be a 40-foot-by-40-foot space in an undecided location of the park. Neighbors would garden the space together instead of dividing it into plots like the city’s other .

The idea is the brainchild of two residents who live near the park, said Ann Beuch, a community organizer with the Blake Road Corridor Collaborative. Beuch’s organization took the request to the Hopkins Park Board April 18 and before a City Council work session Tuesday.

Since the idea arose, the idea has garnered support from residents in and Westside apartments and the houses around the park.

“There’s definitely a strong interest in the community to have this garden,” Beuch said.

Exact costs aren't yet known, but Public Works Director Steve Stadler said preliminary estimates suggest the city's costs could fall in the $2,000 to $3,000 range.

Council members liked the idea but emphasized that residents should consider this a pilot project. Hopkins and Minnehaha Creek Watershed District still need to get together—along with the collaborative and neighbors—to finalize a plan for the area, which is in the midst of a renovation.

The watershed district bought about two acres of land south of Cottageville Park as part of a partnership in which the city agreed to pay for the design and construction of the expanded parkland. The first part of that makeover began earlier this month when workers on the watershed district property.

The proposal will go back to the Park Board on May 9 and then on to council May 17. A nonprofit specializing in community gardens will train the collaborative May 2 on how to set one up and what rules it should have. If all goes well, residents should be working in the garden this planting season.

“I think it could be a really nice feature to bring the neighborhood together,” Beuch said.