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Changes over time at the Gill Tract,

                                                                                                from 104 acres to 10 acres in 87 years.

10 acres of land are allocated to continue in agricultural research until at least 2022. But what will be the future of the Tract after 2022? Development pressures have largely won over priority of the Gill Tract throughout the decades with consideration to the change in size of the intact farmland at the Gill Tract over time.

 

Although the original Gill Tract was acquired for recreational purposes, a separate piece of land called the Schmidt Tract (which was acquired with tax dollars for agricultural purposes) was absorbed into the Gill Tract in 1940 to continue agricultural research. The amount of land set aside for the Experiment Station for Biological Controls in 1944 was 37.6 acres, but the entirety of this promise was never realized due to the need for wartime housing during WWII which took over 19 acres. Although it can be argued that all 104 acres were not originally intended for agricultural uses, there is a need to consider the degree to which this highly arable piece of land has been developed over time and then consider the best use of this site beyond 2022.

                                                                                

                                                                                                                                     scroll through the images to experience the change.

1928
1939
2009
2015
2015
1928 to 2015

sources:

Graphic created by Katie McKnight | Sources used include:

1 LSA Associates Inc. Report, Experiment Station Research and History - Gill Tract, Judith Marvin and Randy Roza and Andrew Pulcheon, compilers (Richmond: LSA Associates Inc., 2003), 8.

2 Warren F. Lee, and Catherine T. Lee, 2000, A Selective History ofthe Codornices-Universiiy Village, The City of Albany &Environs. Belvidere Delaware Railroad Company Enterprises. Ltd.

3 Pei Wu, Diana. “Occupying the Future, Starting at the Roots.” Race, Poverty & the Environment 19 (2012), 38–41, http://reimaginerpe.org/files/19-1.pei-wu.pdf (accessed November 10, 2014).

4 Bidad, H., Broder, H., & Quinn, C. (2014). Spring 2014, Senate Bill No. 84: A Bill in Support of Preventing Development of the Gill Tract Farm. Berkeley: Associated Students of the University of California.

5 Bancroft Library Archives, Marin-Buchanan Extension on Gill Tract, Memo to S. S. Elberg from Ray F. Smith "Proposed Connection between Buchanan Street and Marin Avenue in Albany", B.F. # 110 - 80, 1961. CU-149, Box 14, Folder 9.

6 McKnight, Katie M. "ANALYZING CURRENT OPERATIONS AND FUTURE POTENTIAL OF THE UC GILL TRACT COMMUNITY FARM." Professional Report. UC Berkeley, November 8 2015. Draft.

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