Before the Garden
Before the garden, the area on the hill overlooking it was occupied by a Catholic school and convent, named Christ the King.
Christ the King was built in the 1960's and many locals have fond memories of going to school there for kindergarten thru sixth grade.
During the 1980's the Syracuse diocese closed the school and merged the students into other Catholic schools. Sometime after that, the buildings were purchased by a developer who rented them to several different businesses for years. Then the floods of 2005/2006 struck and the buildings were badly flooded. The tenants left and the buildings never reopened. Mold grew inside, vandals broke windows and stole all the copper pipes, vagrants would break in and live there. They were quickly becoming a dangerous eyesore to the neighborhood.
After several years of sitting vacant and getting worse, the buildings went into tax foreclosure (circa 2012). At that point, Broome County became the owner. The county tried to auction them off for *any* amount of money, but no one ever bought them.
In 2015, Broome County Legislator, Jason Shaw, stopped at a house next to the buildings on Fairmont Ave in Endwell. The woman who lived there, Judi Healander, came to the door. Jason asked her what county issued were important to her and she proceeded to explain the saga of the vacant buildings. That day, they decided to work together to try to find a way to demolish the buildings and make something better for the neighborhood.
Jason & Judi went next door to Triumphant Life Church and spoke with pastor Darryl Reynolds. The three agreed that the ugly buildings needed to be torn down and that something beautiful needed to grow in their place. That's when the idea of a community garden sprouted.
The next stop was the Broome County Land Bank, which specializes in rehabbing and/or demolishing abandoned buildings. The Land Bank saw this as the beginnings of a successful project. So, they recommended that Jason, Judi, and Darryl develop a full-fledged plan to include the Town of Union, as well as VINES, a Binghamton-based community gardening non-profit.
Eventually these groups were able to rally volunteers, form a cohesive plan, find money, and demolish the buildings on the hill above the Endwell Community Garden. It took years to get that money together, but looking back now, it's so worth all the time and effort.
Below are photos of the site during the demolition and the vacant buildings that needed to be torn down before that.
Christ the King was built in the 1960's and many locals have fond memories of going to school there for kindergarten thru sixth grade.
During the 1980's the Syracuse diocese closed the school and merged the students into other Catholic schools. Sometime after that, the buildings were purchased by a developer who rented them to several different businesses for years. Then the floods of 2005/2006 struck and the buildings were badly flooded. The tenants left and the buildings never reopened. Mold grew inside, vandals broke windows and stole all the copper pipes, vagrants would break in and live there. They were quickly becoming a dangerous eyesore to the neighborhood.
After several years of sitting vacant and getting worse, the buildings went into tax foreclosure (circa 2012). At that point, Broome County became the owner. The county tried to auction them off for *any* amount of money, but no one ever bought them.
In 2015, Broome County Legislator, Jason Shaw, stopped at a house next to the buildings on Fairmont Ave in Endwell. The woman who lived there, Judi Healander, came to the door. Jason asked her what county issued were important to her and she proceeded to explain the saga of the vacant buildings. That day, they decided to work together to try to find a way to demolish the buildings and make something better for the neighborhood.
Jason & Judi went next door to Triumphant Life Church and spoke with pastor Darryl Reynolds. The three agreed that the ugly buildings needed to be torn down and that something beautiful needed to grow in their place. That's when the idea of a community garden sprouted.
The next stop was the Broome County Land Bank, which specializes in rehabbing and/or demolishing abandoned buildings. The Land Bank saw this as the beginnings of a successful project. So, they recommended that Jason, Judi, and Darryl develop a full-fledged plan to include the Town of Union, as well as VINES, a Binghamton-based community gardening non-profit.
Eventually these groups were able to rally volunteers, form a cohesive plan, find money, and demolish the buildings on the hill above the Endwell Community Garden. It took years to get that money together, but looking back now, it's so worth all the time and effort.
Below are photos of the site during the demolition and the vacant buildings that needed to be torn down before that.
