Why do you support the indoor urban farm project?

What I’ve envisioned is a community gathering place where everyone can proudly say, this is my community and I’m a part of this. It’s a dream that can happen with the availability of this building in this location.

The building itself is such an asset. It’s historic. It defines the bike path through our neighborhood. It’s 230,000 square feet of well-built steel and concrete that has plenty of life left in it. It would be such a waste to demolish it. And one thing our neighborhood doesn’t need is more pollution or traffic.

What challenges are there in living in East Phillips?

I’m just two blocks from a foundry and an asphalt plant that are bonafide industrial polluters. And when the wind is blowing my way and they’re under production, I have to go inside. I get headaches from that. So that’s a definite challenge. We’re flanked on one side by Hiawatha Highway 55 and 94 is just north of us. And then there’s the garbage burner, which they placed right downtown. And the prevailing winds carry a lot of that our direction too.

Do you know anyone suffering from pollution-related health conditions?

I know a lot of people who have asthma or children with asthma. One of my friends moved in basically right across the street from Bituminous Roadways, and she now has asthma and just developed it. And she was told it was very unusual to develop asthma after age 50, but she has.