From city Communications Director Brett Broesder:
Mayor Bill Finch, community leaders, neighbors, local contractors and businesses rallied to help the Reservoir Community Farm to rebuild after a fire destroyed a community building in the North End.
“This is ground zero for this community,” said Mayor Bill Finch yesterday at the Green Village Initiative community farm, which is located at the corner of Reservoir Avenue and Yaremich Drive. “This is where people come to grow their own food, to meet their own neighbors, to work together to literally rebuild a community.
“From these ashes that we’re standing on right now, we will re-grow. We’re going to build it bigger and better than it was,” said Mayor Finch.
Ø Click here to view a video about the rebuilding effort: bit.ly/1O7AQbF
Ø Click here to view pictures from the event: bit.ly/1MLxjhL
Ø Click here to learn more about GVI: www.gogvi.org/The city coordinated with GVI to raze the one-story building community building, which was destroyed on Monday in a fire.
>By Tuesday, Mayor Finch, GVI and Jorge Garcia, the director of the city’s Public Facilities department, already were working with Bridgeport-based contractors and businesses lay the foundation for the future.
“It hits home,” said Garcia. “We know it’s all about community and we want to be part of rebuilding this.”
Two local small business owners, contractor Marshan Coleman and electrician Willie McBride, stepped up and volunteered their companies’ services. Police Chief Joseph L. Gaudett and Fire Chief Brian Rooney also attended the event Wednesday to support GVI.
“It’s a little emotional for me because I grew up on this street,” Coleman said.
“I’ve got a lot of guys ready to come and donate time and materials, whatever we can do to build it back bigger and better.”GVI is a grassroots, non-profit organization dedicated to creating social, economic and environmental change through local action. Through the Reservoir Community Farm, school gardens and internship program in Bridgeport, the organization is creating jobs, growing healthy local food, educating around health and obesity, beautifying inner city areas, and empowering youth.
GVI with the city will host a community fundraiser tonight, March 19, 2015, at 5 p.m. at The Arcade Storefronts, 1001 Main St. in Bridgeport with live music and information about how the city and groups like VCI are working to make Bridgeport a healthier community every day.
Monique Bosch, the co-founder of GVI, said she has been astounded by the groundswell of support the group has received since the fire.
“It takes something like this to see how important a community farm can be,” she said. “When you see something like this happen and the community is devastated and mad and they say, ‘We’re going to fix this and we’re going to rebuild immediately,’ then you realize how important this is and that everybody really does care. And it’s their farm and we all feel connected because of this experience.”
“Mr. Green Jeans” is at it again, why does the mayor need the police and fire chief at the opening of a community garden? It’s election time, so here we go.
Folks,
This was supposed to be a full-scale development. Plans were submitted, development rights awarded, plans approved. Then the developer decided he was in no rush to implement the plan so Finch came up with the idea of a community farm in order to stall on the other project. So a taxable piece of property that was supposed to be built on and put back on the tax rolls continues to sit dormant as a favor to the developer.
Bob, just so I understand, what was the favor to the developer? Does the neighborhood benefit?
Ron Mackey, the election is in November, I hardly see this as a political issue and for residents in this area seeing the police and fire chiefs show up is good for public relation within the community.
Bob Halstead, I am certain a community garden gets points from you, no?
That’s the first thing i thought of. That’s got to be about two acres of land ripe for development, and yet the land isn’t on the tax rolls.
You are all off the point here, which is some crackhead burned down the storage facility of this great community garden and the mayor and friends were there to offer their support for rebuilding. This has nothing to do with an election. Some of you need to take your blinders off and see the big picture, your hatred of Finch sometimes gets the best of you. By the way the person responsible for this was arrested that night thanks to some good neighbors speaking up and giving up his name. If more people in BPT would do the same it would be a much better place!
Nothing to do with an election? Everything that can be turned into a positive image of Finch will be seized upon by the ministry of public enlightenment. I hope this was truly grassroots, but it has the characteristics of the contrived and phony taxpayer-funded events being staged of late.
I think that contract went to Sal DiNardo’s remediation company.
But the recognition goes to local leaders who came together to replenish a food source, because
www .Only1canbethebest.com
The City purchased this land with CDBG money to put commercial and housing development there and made POKO the preferred developer. POKO did not produce for several years. Bridgeport Community Land Trust got wind that POKO was working with the City to put a “farm” there, I was president, we applied to be the farming entity and were ignored. The Mayor and his puppets gave it to Green Village Initiative of Westport at $1 per year for ten-year lease. GVI with Finch monopolized the foundation giving network and put this development there. Meanwhile, Finch subverted the BCLT Board who then eventually disbanded it and put GVI in charge of all community gardens we had built up over 35 years in Bridgeport. POKO is building over three community gardens in the South End now. Finch is working to place GVI into the three-way contract for the funding the BCLT was awarded, still unspent in a three-way contract with the State DEEP and the City. And when a community urban farm gets burned down, let’s face it, something is not going right. And this “farm” looks terrible in the summer, overgrown with weeds and hardly anybody there.