Portion of Brookline Memorial Park may be converted into urban farm

An empty field in Brookline Memorial Park could be converted into an urban farm, which would produce food for city residents and local food banks.

City Councilman Anthony Coghill said the site, located within the roughly 20-acre park in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood, was the last active farm in Pittsburgh. He’d like to see it become a vibrant farm once again.

“We’d try to feed the city,” Coghill said.

His hope is to grow potatoes, zucchini and other foods on the 1.3-acre site. All of the food, he said, will be given to city residents and donated to local food banks or food pantries.

“It all stemmed from the pandemic, when people were in food pantry lines,” he said, explaining that City Council President Theresa Kail-Smith had challenged council members to contemplate ways the city may be able to grow its own food to help feed residents in times of need.

Coghill said he found a “perfect” spot in Brookline Memorial Park. The farm would be located on a flat patch of land behind the park’s athletic fields. The park previously had a pool, and the pool house that used to provide water for that could be repurposed to irrigate the farm, he said.

It would be visible from Brookline Boulevard.

The city already performed soil testing at the site, Coghill said.

“It’s like you could plant there tomorrow,” he said.

Several Brookline residents have already offered to volunteer at the farm, Coghill said, and he’d like to see the city hire a full-time farmer to oversee it. Pittsburgh already has staff in their City Farms Division — which is part of CitiParks — who are assisting in preliminary planning.

Goats too

Plans call for a barn adjacent to the football field with fencing and a walking path around the farm’s perimeter. In addition to crops, the farm would also house goats.

The city spends thousands of dollars every year on goats to eat invasive vegetation, Coghill said. If the city had its own goats on the farm, they could deploy the animals to other areas throughout the city where they could gobble up unwanted invasive plants.

Coghill said he envisions a produce stand at the park where local residents could pick up fresh food for free.

Coghill estimated the project would cost around $2 million, though he said that’s not an official estimate.

He said he is hoping to leverage support from the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and various foundations to fund the project and pay for ongoing expenses.

He also suggested that a portion of the money collected through Pittsburgh’s parks tax could go to the farm, which will be located in a city park.

“It hits a lot of the points we’re trying to hit,” said Catherine Qureshi, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.

The conservancy wanted to expand more work into parks in the area, she said, and it would be a good way to use the parks tax money “for something special.”

Educational opportunity

Coghill said he also sees the farm as a prime spot for Pittsburgh Public Schools students to take field trips and learn about urban agriculture.

“I envision this not only feeding Pittsburgh, but educating Pittsburgh,” Coghill said. “I’m willing to bet most city kids have no clue how to grow zucchini.”

Nina Esposito-Visgitis, president of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, said she could imagine the farm being popular with students. She said she could envision students petting the goats and taking home fresh food.

“You’ll have schools lining up,” she said.

Coghill said he hopes to have the farm operating within about two years. Next steps include extending waterlines to the site, building the perimeter fence and constructing an access road that leads to the farm site without interfering with the nearby athletic fields.