Green House Venture Ribbon Cutting
Tower Grove CDC extends our warmest congratulations to Green House Venture on the ribbon cutting and grand opening of its new Education Center at 3966 DeTonty Street. Shaw neighbors got their first look inside during the Community Open House on November 1, touring the building and hearing from Green House Venture staff about how it will serve students for years to come.
A new home for hands-on learning
The $5.8 million, 9,300-square-foot urban agriculture learning center will introduce hundreds of students in grades 4 through 8 to plant science. Students from four public, parochial, charter and Christian schools serving Shaw will study, cultivate and harvest food crops throughout the school year.
The building includes classrooms and laboratories, a greenhouse with aquaponic growing, a rooftop garden, and vertical farming. Together they give Green House Venture staff the tools to engage young people in bioscience, dietetics and urban agriculture through real discovery.
The Education Center is the final piece of Green House Venture's nearly four-acre campus at the corner of DeTonty and Lawrence streets. Learn more at greenhousestl.org.
Proud to have helped from the start
Tower Grove CDC was glad to play a part in bringing this campus to life. We took part in the initial planning meetings that shaped the vision for the site. We also supported Green House Venture's acquisition of the Land Reutilization Authority (LRA) property that became home to the campus, helping turn a vacant parcel into a place of learning and growth.
Building on 40 years on DeTonty
This project extends more than 40 years of Tower Grove CDC's work in the Shaw neighborhood. Much of that work has centered on DeTonty Street, which was once the block hardest hit by vacancy in Shaw.
Today Tower Grove CDC owns 10 buildings with 34 units of affordable housing adjacent to the Green House Venture campus, including the property directly to the east. Seeing a vibrant education center rise next door to homes we have restored and maintained for decades is a powerful sign of how far DeTonty has come.
Growing together
We look forward to watching Shaw's young people learn, grow and harvest just steps from their neighbors' front doors. Congratulations to the entire Green House Venture team, its partners, and the Shaw Neighborhood Improvement Association on this milestone. Tower Grove CDC is proud to be your neighbor.
Alderwoman Velazquez presents a St. Louis City proclamation to The Green House Venture
Ribbon Cutting
Sean Spencer, Tower Grove CDC Executive Director, with Tom and Ginger Purcell. Tom Purcell is the founder of The Green House Venture.
Green House Venture ribbon cutting and grand opening of its new Education Center at 3966 DeTonty Street