GREENSBORO — A year ago, officials at the Greensboro Children’s Museum planned to raise about $5 million for a major overhaul of the downtown attraction.
Then, the economy tanked.
“Frankly, that killed it,” John Cross, chairman of the museum’s board of trustees, said of the capital campaign. “We were just launching it as the recession hit.”
That meant delaying major improvements.
Now, museum officials say, they plan to approach the changes one project at a time.
Leading that list will be something called The Edible Schoolyard, a cooking and organic gardening program started in Berkeley, Calif., in 1995 by chef and author Alice Waters.
Waters and her Chez Panisse Foundation announced this week that the Greensboro nonprofit will be the first museum in the country to implement The Edible Schoolyard.
The “seed-to-table” program teaches children about food production, ecology, nutrition and work. The garden will allow youngsters to shape beds, plant seeds, tend soil, turn compost and harvest flowers, fruits and vegetables.
In a teaching kitchen, children will learn how to create recipes, prepare food, set a table and eat together.
“What better place than a children’s museum to plant the seeds of sustainability, community and stewardship of the land?” Waters said in a statement. “By breaking ground on The Edible Schoolyard, the Greensboro Children’s Museum links culture to agriculture while feeding children’s minds and bodies. I am thrilled with this new partnership.”
Those involved expect the program will bring national attention to the museum and the city.
“This is a nationally recognized program offered by a local children’s museum,” Cross said. “It’s another feather in (our) cap.”
The Edible Schoolyard should open next spring, a year later than originally anticipated.
Cross said the museum plans a $750,000 fundraising campaign to pay for the 1/2-acre garden and a teaching kitchen. The project initially carried a price of about $1.2 million.
Museum officials said they have cut out some of the project’s nonessential elements.
“We haven’t eliminated anything that would impact the integrity of the actual garden or the kitchen,” said Betsy Grant, the museum’s chief executive officer. “That is a priority.”
At least initially, the garden area will not include a two- or three-story tree house that could have cost more than $300,000.
The project will include walkways, indoor and outdoor classrooms, a cafe where youngsters can make mud pies and cakes, a chicken coop, arbors, a greenhouse, a tool shed, a composting area, a marsh pond and beds for vegetables, herbs, fruits, flowers, trees and shrubs.
“Our goal is to create a model for children’s museums that can be adapted to communities across the country,” Grant said. “It’s exciting, timely and critical to our children’s health.”
A ground breaking for the project will be held Sept. 24 at 4 p.m.; Waters will attend. The event is open to the public.
Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com
