Southside Community Land Trust Headquarters


Introduction

Organization

Small Business Support

Skill Training and Workspaces


Urban Space Gallery


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Concept

The Southside Community Land Trust (SCLT) Headquarters is a building reuse and urban design in south Providence, Rhode Island. It consists of a multipurpose building that houses the headquarters of the SCLT organization, with a small plaza and a community garden across from it. The building includes office, retail and restaurant space. It has ground-floor space for active frontages that will be rented to locally owned restaurants and other food-related businesses. These will generate income for the organization and activate the street. This project is intended to revitilize an area that is a gateway between downtown and Upper South Providence, and which has been challenged by years of disinvestment. The revitalized building and adjacent facilities will serve as a community hub.


SCLT manages almost 60 urban gardens and 50 acres of urban or suburban farmland that produce food for several thousand people. The mission of the organization is to “build a more just local food system that serves low-income neighborhoods who have limited access to fresh produce.”




Photo ©  Union Studio Architecture SCLT Headquarters

SCLT manages a wide range of urban agriculture programs including youth and adult agricultural education. As a result of the builiding and facilities remodeling, "the large classroom and flexible programming space has allowed SLCT to expand their Youth Enterprise Center for youth staff to develop workforce skills and lead workshops for peers and neighbors.”


History

The Southside Community Land Trust (SCLT) was born in 1981 when Hmong refugees and several Brown University graduates began growing healthy, culturally familiar food in community gardens on vacant lots in south Providence, Rhode Island. The Hmong people are a distinct ethnic group indigenous group to East and Southeast Asia. The Hmong community in Rhode Island consists mostly of indiviuals that left Asia as refugees at the end of the Vietnam war and their descendants.


In 2017, SCLT purchased a 12,000 square foot livery building built in the 1860's to provide space for larger operations. The building was in dire shape after 170 years, multiple uses, and at least one fire. SCLT commissioned the  Union Studio Architecture & Community Design firm to renovate the building and develop a surrounding urban plan. The building received extensive rebuilding and it was internally restructured to serve as a food-focused neighborhood center for the community. There are several buildings of historic value in the surrounding area, some of which are being renovated.




Photo ©  Union Studio Architecture Aerial perspective

Food Production Facilities

A third of the ground floor space of the building is dedicated to SCLT's operations, including a USDA-compliant produce packing center, dry and cold storage and a commercial kitchen. The food processing facilities are shared by small farmers who work in the SCLT's gardens. The access to these facilities works as an agricultural business "incubator", giving producers the opportunity to gradually develop their businesses without initally having to procure these resources.


Sources:

Public Square, A CNU Journal: Building supports food economy, and a public plaza... by Robert Steuteville

Union Studio Architecture

Southside Community Land Trust

Equity Trust: Southside Community Land Trust



Photo ©  Union Studio Architecture
Kitchen Facility