For Immediate Release
September 14, 2020
Ballard P-Patch Property Sale Finalized: Our Redeemer’s – Ballard P-Patch Partnership Saves the Garden
Seattle 9/14/2020 – GROW and the Ballard P-Patch officially purchased the Ballard P-Patch property from Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church on August 31st. This milestone ensures that the property will continue to be used as a community garden and allows Our Redeemer’s to fund much needed safety and functional upgrades to their facilities to better serve the greater community. Groundbreaking for the church’s renovation is Sunday, October 4th.
Up to now, Our Redeemer’s has leased the land for to Ballard P-Patch for $1 a year. According to Pastor Kathy Hawks, “The P-Patch, along with the whole community of Ballard, rallied their energy, connections, and relationships to make this happen, despite the pandemic. This sale is a testament to what can happen when good people work together with a common purpose.”
Our Redeemer’s renovation project is expected to take 10 months to complete. SHKS Architects is the architect and LZL Construction is the contractor. The renovated church will better serve the congregation and community members who regularly use the church facilities – a co-op preschool, AA, boy scouts, our homeless patrons, as well as other community organizations who will be invited to use the new multi-purpose spaces in the church.
One of the first P-Patches in the Seattle Community Garden Program, the Ballard P-Patch is located a short distance off of NW 85th St and 25th NW. Our Redeemer’s is located at 2400 NW 85th Street.
According to Pastor Hawks, “Our Redeemer’s is delighted that the legacy of our support over the many years will now, literally, bear fruit in perpetuity.”
# # #
Project renderings available:
https://ourredeemers.net/about/build-the-vision/
Background Information
Since 1976 Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church has supported Ballard P-Patch by renting the land to the City of Seattle for $1 per year.
In early 2018, Our Redeemer’s discovered during renovation planning that the church’s unreinforced masonry walls needed to be seismically upgraded for safety. The unexpected cost of seismic upgrades forced the church in early 2018 to consider selling the p-patch property.
Although it was a possibility, selling the land to the highest bidder did not meet the community service mission of Our Redeemer’s. Instead the church invited the Ballard P-Patch gardeners, under the fiscal sponsorship of GROW, to buy it, and preserve the land in perpetuity.