The City of Olympia and the Olympia Parks, Recreation, and Arts Department has a vision to develop an urban farm park to increase access to locally grown food, support local food production, and grow future farmers in Olympia. They envision the Urban Farm Park as a place that will be designed to provide education, skills, and tools needed to encourage and cultivate a diverse agricultural community of urban farmers. AHBL was selected to conduct a feasibility study for the Urban Farm Park, which includes identifying potential partnerships and resources, estimating construction, and operating costs, and facilitating diverse community engagement to identify key characteristics of the future Urban Farm Park. 

The AHBL team, which includes ECONorthwest, Olympia-based artist Carrie Ziegler, and Adam Peterson with the Thurston Conservation District, coordinated an extensive community engagement plan, gathering input at Farmers Market and Art Walks, as well as facilitating stakeholder interviews, workshops, and an online survey. The completed study will give recommendations for how the City can feasibly create a future Urban Farm Park. It is a long-term vision, and the feasibility study is an important first step in bringing the City’s vision of an urban farm park, that supports an integrated agricultural network of farmers and gardeners, into a tangible resource available to the entire community. 

Team:

• Carrie Ziegler
• City of Olympia
• EcoNorthwest
• Olympia Parks
• Thurston Conservation District