Neighborhood fights land sale meant to save Denver Urban Gardens
Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) is planning to sell the majority of one of its largest community gardens in order to save the organization – and its network of 180 community gardens – from financial ruin.
Neighborhood gardeners are not happy about the situation.
“We were all very shocked when we heard, really out of the blue, that our garden was collateral for Denver Urban Gardens and was getting sold,” gardener Fanzi Pitzer said.
Pitzer described the garden as her sanctuary in the city, a place where neighbors connect.
“I support the mission of DUG, however, it doesn’t make sense for one garden to bare the burden for everyone. If that were the case, they should have told us earlier so that we could fundraise or do other things,” Pitzer said.
Located in Denver’s Lower Highlands neighborhood, the garden is in a residential area, located on a unique plot between 35th and 36th Avenue, backed by alleys on three sides.
It is one of the largest community gardens managed by Denver Urban Gardens, and unlike most of the organization’s 180 gardens, the property is owned by the organization.
According to a DUG webpage about El Oasis, two-thirds of the land is being sold in order to save the organization in the face of the extraordinary fundraising challenges created by COVID-19.
One-third of the land would continue to be managed by DUG as the El Oasis Community Garden in perpetuity.
The DUG web page states that attempts to prevent sale of the El Oasis property could result in the “winding down” of the entire organization.
“We need to be clear: If this sale does not close as planned during this calendar year, DUG will cease to exist as it does today because the organization would be on a path to winding down operations,” the website states. “This would result in the loss of not only El Oasis Community Garden, but also 180+ gardens throughout the six-county metro area.”
On request of comment for this story, DUG provided an additional statement:
“We’re extremely sad to be in the position to reduce the size of El Oasis Community Garden; however, we’re relieved to be able to keep a portion of the land for a community garden in perpetuity. A tough decision had to be made due to our current financial situation, the state of philanthropy, and the uncertainties related to the pandemic. Selling two-thirds of one garden will allow Denver Urban Gardens to continue our important mission and serve our community of 17,500 gardeners in more than 180 gardens throughout metro Denver.”
The Denver Post reported that backlash from the conflict between gardeners and DUG caused then-executive director Violeta Garcia to resign in September.
Further information about the land sale can be found on the Denver Urban Gardens website.
El Oasis community gardeners also created a website to inform the community about the situation, spread a petition, and attempt to save the garden at saveeloasis.com.