The Minority Community Investment Coalition (MCIC) held a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday to mark the beginning of construction on its Grow Erie project. 

Grow Erie is an equitable economic development project that will establish a controlled environment agriculture at Savocchio Opportunity Park. 

MCIC said the project marks the end of a 15-year effort to revitalize the park at the beginning of a generational transformation of the space. 

“Individuals living on Erie’s Eastside have not always been afforded the same opportunities as residents of other parts of the city, and for more than 60 years, we have worked to rewrite that narrative,” said Gary Horton, executive director, Urban Erie Community Development Corporation and co-founder of MCIC. “Grow Erie reinvests in our neighborhoods, provides employment opportunities, and brings locally-grown food to a food desert — impacting about 20,000 residents in need."

 

Grow Erie is a public-private collaboration that merges cutting-edge research, technology, and agriculture science with marketplace expertise to produce local goods, create jobs, and revitalize a long vacant lot. 

Once the project is completed, MCIC said Grow Erie will include two distinct facilities: 

  • A commercial facility with over 17,000 square feet of all-season, high-tech greenhouses where fish and plants will be integrated using INTAG’s patented waste-to-plant nutrient production system. The process, known as aquaponics will recycle aquaculture fish waste into a natural growth nutrient to be used for greenhouse cultivation. INTAG’s design allows for the production of marketable fish, and the cultivation of many types of produce which will supply a neighboring wholesale food distribution business, Curtze Food Service, with market-rate, locally-grown, high-quality, and fresh products.
  • A 2,500 square foot polycarbonate community greenhouse open to local residents, which will house a variety of raised beds for cultivating a range of vegetables and greens. With the aid of Natural Gas Heaters and End-Wall Cooling Fans, the greenhouse will be climate controlled to allow for year-round crop production, and will contain the necessary equipment for ensuring food-safety and the production of clean, healthy food.

Fund contributors include: Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Erie County Redevelopment Authority, Curtze Food Service, Erie Community Foundation, City of Erie, Erie County, Diverse Erie, UPMC Health Plan, First National Bank, Marquette Savings Bank, and Northwest Bank. 

Jamison Hixenbaugh will have more information on Grow Erie on WICU 12 at 5 and 6 p.m.