The LaMott Community Garden May Be In Trouble!

It looks as though our beloved La Mott Community Garden may be in trouble!

The La Mott Community Garden now has a website which is where I found out about this.

For those of you that don't know, the La Mott Community Garden - rather the land that it sits on - is owned by Temple University. That land and the rest of the Temple University's Tlyer School Of Art property is currently up for sale!

At the last community meeting back in June we were informed that there is currently no buyer for the property.

To find out more about what is happening with the La Mott Community Garden, you can visit their website below:

La Mott Community Garden Website

Villanova Filming At The LaMott Community Garden

Please mark your calendars for tommorrow, Saturday, June 4, 2011 at noon to be at the LaMott Communtiy Garden to watch the filming by Villanova to help save the LaMott Community Garden.




A Villanova film crew will be at the LaMott Community Garden on Saturday, June 4, 2011 starting at around 10:30am.

The film is supposed to be about the plight of the LaMott Community garden and how the community is fighting to keep the garden going.

Participants are needed to speak about the community garden's plight to the filming crew and if you would like to participate, please show up at the LaMott Community garden on Saturday.

The garden is located on the 1800 block of Graham Lane in LaMott, PA.

An Old Video Of Temple Students Moving In (Or Are They Moving Out)

Here is a short video that I took a very long time ago. I noticed that it was on my Youtube page but I had not posted it here.

Of course this was taken a very long time ago when there were still students attending Temple's Tyler School of Art. Of course if you have not heard Temple has now moved the students to their campus on Broad Street by Broad and Cecil B. Moore.

The school and the surrounding site are now up for sale - which includes the community garden as well.

LaMott Community Garden Pre-Season Meeting

The LaMott Community Garden group will be having a pre-season meeting

February 12, 2011

at 1pm

at the LaMott Community Center, Willow & Sycamore Avenues.

On the agenda will be

• Garden Update
  
  
• Application(s)
  
  
• Rules and Conditions

This event is being sponsored by the LaMott Community Garden Group

LaMott Community Garden Update!

In a letter dated May 20th, 2010 a letter was sent to Ms. Ann Weaver Hart, President of Temple University regarding the LaMott Community Meeting held June 6, 2010.

"Dear President Hart:

On behalf of the residents of the community of LaMott, you or representatives of Temple University are cordially invited to attend a LaMott Community Meeting on Sunday, June 6, 2010, at 3p at the LaMott Community Center to discuss the possible sale of the temple Tyler School of Art property and the future of the LaMott Community Garden, which Temple University has allowed to exist on a portion of the school's property for many decades.

I, and the residents of LaMott, look forward to having you or a designated representative at the meeting to discuss the future of the Tyler School of Art property."

The above letter was sent by Harvey Portner who is the Commissioner of Ward 3 which is located in Cheltenham Township.

I personally attended this meeting! And Temple sent a representative to attend the meeting. They sent Charles Duncan who works in Government, Community & Public Affairs for Temple University.

At the time the property mentioned above was being considered for sale but the final details of the sale were not finalized.

at the present time and as far as I know the property has not been sold to any one as of yet.

Please stay tuned for more details! I will post them as soon as I can!

Latest Update

• Although Temple representatives were not present at the last community meeting they did send one of their lawyers to represent them.
  
  
• Re: property taxes - The garden plot / tract (which is 1.8 acres) is taxed $2100 per year and the plot / tract itself is valued at being worth $500,000.
  
  
• The next Temple Board of Trustees next scheduled meeting will be at the Ambler Campus on June 17th 2010.
  
  
• The Land Conservacy of Elkins Park which is a non-profit organization, is interested in buying the Temple Estate (which would include the garden plot / tract). 42 acres of the Dominican Republic are owned by the Land Conservacy of Elkins Park.
  
  
• The acting president of the LaMott Community Gardins is Diane Williams.

The LaMott Community Garden Club

Public Works Committee Meeting

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

at 7:30 pm

at Curtis Hall
1250 W. Church Rd
Wynocte PA 19095

Come voice your support for Cheltenham Township's commissioners's support in facilitating Temple University's donation of the land tract, on Graham Lane between Cedar Lane and B-D Street, for continued use as a garden.

Citizens from Cheltenham Township communities, neighboring townships and counties are expressing their support, with letters and telephone calls to Temple University, requesting Temple's donation of the garden tract to a community based non-profit corporation created specifically for the La Mott Community Garden.

Each of us is a gardener. Our seeds of love, help, and assistance honor our ancestors, families, friends and neighbors. Continuing the cultivation of the La Mott Community Garden is in keeping with 80+ years of local tradition within the historic distric of La Mott. Our garden is a brilliant green thread, naturally woven into the essential content, the fabric of our La Mott community.

Volunteer drivers are needed to help some residents get to the meetings. You can visit The La Mott Community Garden Website for contact information. If you can volunteer a ride or need a ride please visit the website for more contact information.

The Community Garden(s) - Part 2

Since we are technically still in the middle of summer, here's another picture that I took of the community garden.

Technically-speaking the land actually belongs to Temple University (at least I think it does) and for as long as I have been living up here (about 25 years) the community garden has always been there!

The people that have gardens there are mostly residents of the community and since Temple has campuses in Philadelphia, I think some of the students use the gardens as well! Everyone I have met there has been very nice and I really think that they are a great bunch of people. My guide to the gardens used to be a man named Brooks Cropper who has since passed away.

The community garden is really a something to see as everyone is growing all different types of vegetables. I guess the most prominent of the vegetables are the tomatoe plants that most of the gardeners seem to be growing. I say this because for the most part tomatoe plants should be staked and it's interesting to see the different ways (and different materials ) that the gardeners use to stake the tomatoes.

Now I have been hearing all sorts of different stories about whether or not Temple will be moving their art students back into the city of Philadelphia, about how the students dcn't like that and about how their parents don't like that either! I have heard stories about how Temple is going to sell off the property(s)...etc....et al! The latest story I have been told is that the year 2008 - 2009 will be the last semester for the art students here at the Tyler School of Art. After that the students will have to go to the campus located in Philadelphia.

I really don't know how all of this is going to affect the community garden so I guess that we should just really enjoy the pleasure of having it now.