Overview | How to Help/DONATE | Background | PDF to Share
2018 was a year of great progress for the Gateway Garden!
Click here to view a list of accomplishments! (PDF)
Since 2009 the Bowmanville Gateway Garden has provided vital open space to grow food, build community, and learn key skills for a more sustainable future. In 2017, the BCO partnered with non-profit NeighborSpace to permanently acquire the land on which the garden resides.
Within the expanded space, neighbors envision year-round food growing, ecological education for children and parents, accessible gardening for the elderly and persons with disabilities, and a quiet oasis in a hectic urban environment. Individual gardeners will enjoy expanded and improved growing areas, and local organizations and businesses will have the chance to invest in and maintain dedicated growing space.
Situated at the intersection of Bowmanville, West Edgewater, West Andersonville, and the Ravenswood Industrial Corridor, the garden is a point of convergence for many diverse communities. This commonly maintained space nurtures gathering and collaboration that reaches across socio-economic, generational, and geographic lines.
The Bowmanville Community Organization (BCO) has formed a strategic partnership with non-profit NeighborSpace to acquire the land. NeighborSpace is the only non-profit urban land trust in Chicago that preserves and sustains gardens on behalf of dedicated community groups. With the additional space, the garden will cover one-third of an acre– the equivalent of four city lots. A permanent green space of this size on the dense north side of Chicago will be an unprecedented boon for the well-being of the surrounding communities.
