Cliffside Community Garden launches - 1972

 BACG History Post #5

The Burlington Parks Department wasted no time developing its new acquisition of Oakledge (Cliffside) Park. The 1972 project budget of $45,000 funded the installation of four lighted tennis courts, two Little League fields, and a 25-table picnic area. A setback occurred when an August storm toppled 42 trees. 

The half-acre Cliffside Community Garden launched in the spring as a cooperative project of the Burlington Parks Department and Gardens for All, based in Charlotte, VT. The community garden was divided into 24 plots. More than 70 people applied.

The Cliffside Community Garden was located south of the Flynn Avenue entrance to Oakledge Park in the area where Bocce courts are currently located. The garden site operated from 1972 through 1978

An October 1972 editorial in the Rutland Herald described the success of the pilot project.