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As improvements to the Penniman Road Play Area move along, some of its gardeners are asking the city to hear their voice about the future placement of the garden.

The most recent iteration of the design, which the city presented at its public meeting on June 23, will keep the garden where it is. Around the garden, the design preferred by the city will build a basketball court on one side along with a renovated playground and lawn space on the other end. 

But a group of gardeners, led by Chris Wagner, Brandon Stanaway, Dave Minichiello, Rae Lin and Ruth Rieffanaugh, believe that a different design where the garden and the proposed basketball court swap places would create a more cohesive design for the garden, which has existed in the neighborhood for over three decades.

“It makes a lot more sense to have this space [the garden] that is a little bit incongruous with all of the other uses of this area to have it in its own area and have all the play areas and activity areas be co-located together,” says Wagner, who has been a gardener for almost 15 years and has planted beans and okra this season. “It would make for one great large community area.” 

According to Dave Minichiello, who was a previous garden coordinator, there was a poll to gauge support for moving the garden at the most recent spring cleanup this past May. He said that almost all 28 gardeners were in attendance, and the majority of the people raised their hands in support of moving the garden.

Some gardeners have expressed concerns about how the move might impact their perennial plants. However, those who support moving the garden see it as a “generational opportunity” that would benefit the broader community in the long run. 

“It’s important to acknowledge that there would be a short-term loss. This is a beautiful space and it’s developed over many years and has a very grown, homey feel,” Wagner says. “That’s a valid concern, but the push to do this is a long term community wide benefit, and in the long term, it would make more sense for everyone.”

“No one wants to lose their plants, and we’ll do our darndest to make sure that they don’t. And anything that’s that’s lost, we can make up,” says Brandon Stanaway, the current coordinator of the garden and tends to a plot of cherry tomatoes.

The group of gardeners had already been in conversation with the city about the placement of the garden during the planning process for the play area improvements which began late last year. The city presented one design that moved the garden during a public meeting in late January. Wagner says that that particular design received the most support from both gardeners and non-gardeners. 

But at its most recent meeting, the city proceeded with a different design because moving the garden was not within the scope of the original capital budget. At that meeting, project manager Max Sell said a preliminary analysis reports that the project budget will need to increase by 30 to 35 percent to cover moving the garden. Following the meeting, the city has solicited feedback from residents regarding the preferred design, setting the deadline for July 24.

For some gardeners, not including the city-owned garden within the development feels like an oversight. 

“It is short-sighted to say that they’re doing a comprehensive planning process and engineering and redesign and reconstruction of this area without necessarily considering a piece of the land which is under their purview,” says Stanaway.

The group of gardeners are in talks with Allston-Brighton City Councilor Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Breadon to see whether there is any additional funding from the city to open the option to move the garden. In the end, they believe that the city is responsible for following through on the feedback from the gardeners. 

“They overlooked this entire space in terms of this redesign, and it has become clear that there is a better option,” says Wagner. “Just because it wasn’t thought of from the beginning doesn’t mean that it’s not worthwhile to pursue and to have the city step up and be a shepherd of that.”