Several friends of Sol Levin, in conjunction with the Madison Area Community Land Trust (MACLT), seek to raise $2000 to establish a perennial garden in front of the Livery, 200 N. Blount Street. This historic building, currently occupied by the Urban Open Space foundation, was the home of MACLT during its formative years under Sol’s inimitable direction.
Sol was involved in city issues on many fronts. He was the lead behind relocating the Gates of Heaven synagogue to James Madison Park. He was Madison’s housing and urban renewal administrator before founding a private affordable housing development firm in 1978. And in 1990 he started the Madison Area Community Land Trust, which sought to make housing affordable by having the trust retain ownership of the land on which the housing was built.
John Bell, a Tenney-Lapham resident, remembered Sol this way: “Sol and I served together on the city’s study committee on community gardens and the advisory committee that it succeeded. In our committee work I came to know Sol as a man with an encyclopedic knowledge of land ownership, zoning and city government. More than anyone I’ve known, Sol had the vision to see what could be built—and the intellect, affability and persistence to lead the task of construction.”
Gigi Holland, another TLNA resident, also reflected on Sol’s influence: “I met Sol Levin in 1995 when the Land Trust office was in the library. We talked about land trust philosophy, creating affordable housing, preserving the housing stock in our older neighborhoods. We reminisced about the Gates of Heaven in James Madison Park. Sol never tired of talking about the Gates, the challenges and joy of being central to its saving, moving and placement in the park.
“Sol was a great proponent of community gardens. The improvement of a small portion of the front yard of the historic livery building is a wonderful tribute to a great friend and citizen of this city.”
If you would like to donate to the fund, please send your check to: Sol’s Garden Fund, MACLT, Suite 400, 131 West Wilson Street, Madison, WI 53703.
A dedication party will be held on Friday, June 20 from 4-6
pm at the Livery, 200 N. Blount Street.
All are invited.
Bob
Shaw
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