The city has given the art park and community garden at Wayne Avenue and East Fourth Street until the end of the month to pack up and move to a new location.
Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein said the city has repeatedly offered to help Garden Station find and relocate to a new home.
From its inception, the garden leased the land from the city on a temporary basis because that site was targeted for redevelopment, Dickstein said.
“From the very beginning, we have shown interest and support in them relocating,” she said. “It’s important people keep in mind the city has not wavered from the original intention of the original agreement.”
City Properties Group, a developer based in Louisville, Kentucky, has taken ownership of the site and some other nearby property and started construction on an old industrial building across from the garden that it plans to convert into loft-style apartments and restaurant space.
Maggie Ottoson, 35, of Dayton, said Garden Station took eight years to build, and included countless hours of work by volunteers, and it is baffling why the developer cannot incorporate the site into its plans.
The current location is ideal and the amount of sweat equity put into the garden would be very sad to lose, Ottoson said.
“The citizens have spoken … and they have let the city know where they stand,” she said.
Another speaker and Garden Station volunteer, 69-year-old David Hurwitz, said there is no better site for the community garden.
City Manager Shelley Dickstein said the city has returned more than 200 emails and one phone call from concerned Garden Station supporters. She said there are no plans at this point for the land to become a parking lot. The city acquired the land at Fourth and Main streets for strategic development pursoses