Vacant Downtown Lot to become Hands-on Classroom for Students and Residents

A vacant lot on Yates Street will soon come to life as a community garden, with the help of downtown residents and University of Victoria students.

1012/14 Yates Street, was the former site of a dry-cleaning business, the property was subject to a provincial remediation order and was recently contained and filled to be considered for future use.  The site has sat vacant for several years after the City purchased it through a tax sale when the property owner did not redeem it.

Environmental monitoring of the site will continue, and City Council has approved the 7200 square foot property for a future community garden for three years while longer term uses continue to be explored.

The University of Victoria will offer its second CityStudio Victoria course, a public policy course, called Growing Community “From the Ground up”. It is an intensive three-week course, starting May 9, 2016, with third year students, and staff working in partnership with the Downtown Residents’ Association and Greater Victoria Placemaking Network.

Students get credit for courses by working on real-world opportunities, together with their classmates, community members and City staff,” said Mayor Helps. “We’re thrilled to learn from CityStudio Vancouver and to be their first CityStudio partner in Canada.”