Volunteers at PHX Renews Activation Day got their fill of planting, watering, shoveling, hammering and painting Saturday in an effort to “activate” a large vacant lot in midtown Phoenix to promote community interest in renewing vacant lots.
The project, a partnership between Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton Keep Phoenix Beautiful, Barron Collier Companies and the City of Phoenix, came to life on the corner of Indian School Road and Central Avenue. It included public art, community garden spaces and information booths for groups that partnered with the event.
Executive director for Keep Phoenix Beautiful, Tom Waldeck, said he came up with the name “Activation Day” for the PHX Renews initiative while on a morning run.
“(Studies show that) doing things like this to vacant lots increases property values, decreases crime and engages the community, and it also kick starts development,” Waldeck said. “I think we’re about to hit it out of the ballpark.”
Activation Day renovated around five of the 15 vacant acres with temporary uses. The land will remain occupied until the owner, Barron Collier Companies, decides how to develop the property.
Stanton attended the event and helped kids plant flowers and shrubs on different plots.
“We’re going to take something that’s right now a little bit of a negative, and we’re flipping it right around and turning it into a very positive thing in our community,” Stanton said, adding that he was particularly thrilled to see young people and high school students volunteering.
Stanton said a “100 percent solar home” would be put on the lot to encourage sustainability in the community.
According to Waldeck, 42 percent of Phoenix is vacant space, and he hopes events like this will encourage the community to put more lots to good use.
The Indian School lot activated in PHX Renews was vacant for 25 years, Waldeck said. PHX Renews now has a three-year lease on the property.
One of PHX Renews’ partners is the International Rescue Committee, which helps refugees rebuild their lives after natural or man-made tragedies. IRC resettles people into new areas, helps them find jobs and provides them with health access, according to the organization’s website.
Waldeck said the IRC had about three acres at the vacant lot. Volunteers tilled and prepared the land — which was strewn with concrete pieces and rocks — for planting lettuces, root crops and other greens.
The crops the refugees harvest will feed and provide an income for “between 90 and 110 refugee families,” Waldeck said.
“Most people don’t even know that this [refugee] community is here,” he said. “To be able to help that community become a success is just an overwhelming experience.”
Jon Vosper, the Economic Development Program Manager for IRC, said the refugees would be able to sell their produce at the Phoenix Public Market.
Another group that worked on the land was One n Ten, a nonprofit organization that assists and supports LGBTQ youths around Phoenix.
Saturday, One n Ten volunteers constructed benches out of recycled wood and situated them in a circle that will serve as a meeting space for One n Ten youths.
Kado Stewart, program coordinator for One n Ten, said the organization will add a wall on their lot space “commemorating transgender folks who have been killed.” Stewart said the lot will also have an activity space with a low ropes course and a rock garden with a ring of colored rocks representing the organization’s logo.
ASU Downtown campus students assisted Phoenix muralist Hugo Medina in painting a shipping container, while students from Brophy College Preparatory, Xavier College Preparatory and Central High School helped cultivate land for planting.
The Arizona Science Center, UPS, Girl Scouts, Coca-Cola, the Valley Permaculture Alliance and more set up booths at the event or had volunteers participating in the renovations.
“We’ve got to do fun, interesting things in the heart of the city,” Stanton said.
Contact the reporter at emily.lierle@asu.edu
