72nd Ave Community Garden (2011)
Address: 72nd Avenue & NE Killingsworth Street
Date of site approval: 2011
Acreage: 0.68
Zoning: commercial, industrial
This site is located adjacent to the former Killingsworth Fast Disposal landfill in the Cully neighborhood of northeast Portland. While a master plan has been completed for transforming the entire disposal site into Thomas Cully Park, a coalition of community partners led by local nonprofit Verde formed the group "Let Us Build Cully Park" to facilitate immediate transformation into public space. The community garden on this parcel was part of the first phase of park development.
Given the complex history of the site and its proposed use as a garden, environmental assessment was essential. The Portland Brownfield Program provided this assessment with participation by community members of all ages, who collected soil samples from the proposed garden area. Results from the lab revealed clean soil, some of the cleanest soil in Portland in fact, and the community garden celebrated its opening in October 2012.