By Kevin Coughlin
Busy people don’t always have time to go to the park. So Grow It Green Morristown took the park to them on Friday.
For the second year in a row, the nonprofit converted a parking space at South and DeHart streets into a parklet.
Hay bales, a picnic table and canopy attempted to re-create the relaxed feel of the Early Street Community Garden and the Urban Farm at Lafayette, ventures established by Grow It Green.
The event was part of PARK(ing) Day, a national movement to create temporary, pop-up public spaces.
Abby Gallo, executive director, said the parklet also gave her a chance to update passersby about the ongoing expansion of the Early Street garden.
When the growing season ends later in the fall, garden plots will be relocated, to make room for a mini-park fronting Early Street. Work has begun on a walking path, and bids are going out for fencing and a rain garden, Gallo said.
So far, the organization has raised about $75,000 towards its $200,000 goal. Morristown High School alumnus Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist, has donated money for a composting toilet at the garden.
A composting toilet in the parklet, however, is an idea whose time has not yet come. And the same goes for permanent parklets, which have not progressed beyond the talking stage in Morristown.
