Yesterday marked the deadline for Westporters to remove items from the Community Gardens.
Instead of preparing for spring, 120 families spent days salvaging soil, plants and structures. Some had been involved since the garden began, 20 years ago.
The site will become a staging area when construction begins on a new Long Lots Elementary School, some time in the future.
Later, it will become an athletic field.
A new location for the Community Gardens has not yet been found.
Alison Freeland and her husband spent Tuesday there, with shovels and a wheelbarrow.
“Many of the gardeners said they felt like they were at a wake or funeral,” Alison says.
The gardens’ demise was especially hard “for a lot of seniors, for whom this was a true community.”
Alison’s photos chronicle the final days of the Hyde Lane Community Gardens.
(All photos/Alison Freeland)
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