Salt Lake Tribune, Utah August 12, 2006 Logan cancer center will uproot garden Gardeners hope this isn't the end of their beloved project The Associated Press
LOGAN - After the fall harvest, a Logan community garden will be ploughed under to make way for a new 8,000-square-foot cancer center. The 100-plot garden has been planted annually over the past six years on land owned by Logan Regional Hospital. Administrators told gardeners in June they'd have to relocate after September. ''We feel bad that the change is going to occur, but there isn't an alternative for us,'' said hospital spokesman Paul Norton. Before being used for the garden, the 1-acre plot on 600 East was vacant. Gardening space is shared about equally between community residents and students from Utah State University, said Theresa Christensen, a USU extension services employee who helps run the garden. Hospital officials always planned to use the land, but it wasn't clear when, USU Extension Horticultural Agent Loralie Cox said. Planners spent a year evaluating where best to build the new cancer center, finally determining the garden site was the best fit, Norton said. The garden is so popular, even hospital administrators hoped to find an alternative location for the center, he added. Now, Christensen, Cox and others are hoping to find the garden a new home, either on the USU campus or within Logan's city limits. They've already pitched the idea to Logan's Park and Recreation Advisory Board with mixed results. Some on the board advise waiting to see what USU officials might offer, while others say a garden could enhance the city's open space or parks. ''This would be a great use for some of those vacant lots,'' Logan Municipal councilwoman and board member Tami Pyfer said. ''I think it's a great project and I would hate to see it go away.'' ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
