Las Vegas officials hope a mass-producing “urban farm” located in a park in the Historic Westside will help address food scarcity in the area.
The development was secured through a public-private partnership involving MGM Resorts International, which donated $500,000 to the City of Las Vegas for the purchase of two climate-controlled hydroponics containers that grow produce, house plants and flowers year-round.
The park that now houses the farm operation closed in 2013 to remove homeless encampments but was reopened last month with a new name, James Gay Park — a tribute to James Authur Gay III, who was born in 1915 and later “played a fundamental role in desegregating the Las Vegas Strip” during the 1960s.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, Las Vegas Councilman Cedric Crear (Ward 5), MGM executive Anthony Williams and others celebrated the opening of the farm on April 12 during a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Crear said the HUNDRED Plan, or the Historic Urban Neighborhood Design Redevelopment Plan, was the impetus of the project.
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