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The Alameda County Fair Foundation recently announced that it has partnered with Safeway to formally name the foundation’s educational farm it plans to build at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.
Valerie Shirk, executive director of the Alameda County Fair Foundation, told the Weekly that by naming it the Safeway Barn, the foundation is now one step closer to meeting the project’s fundraising goals for this year in order to break ground on construction.
“We are thrilled to welcome Safeway to The Farm family,” Jerome Hoban, CEO of the Alameda County Agricultural Fair Association, said in the fair foundation’s April 10 press release. “The Farm brings a new era of community enrichment. The Farm will be an invaluable educational resource, offering students firsthand experiences at the intersection of agriculture and technology. Together with Safeway, we are sowing the seeds of knowledge and inspiration into our community.”
Shirk said the foundation was formed in 2016 with the mission of developing agriculture education projects and programs at the fairgrounds. She said that the foundation’s Board of Trustees agreed to dedicate over 2 acres of the fairgrounds for the farm project in 2019.
After getting the approval from the county Board of Supervisors, the foundation kicked off the capital campaign for the farm in 2022 as its first attempt at creating an educational facility that emphasizes agriculture technology.
Shirk said the proposed location for the farm would be just inside the red gate in the grassy area, which is also known as AgVenture Park.
She said it’s where people would typically find the racing pigs during the Alameda County Fair and that a paddock has been designed into the overall project in order to accommodate pig races in the future.
According to the Alameda County Fairgrounds website, the farm will have programming and curriculum on things like animal and plant sciences, renewable energy and water conservation, health and nutrition, and many other topics. It will also have live animals and crops; a modern barn, greenhouse and lab; and indoor classrooms with kitchens.
The overall goal of the farm is to be a field trip destination for students as well as a community resource, according to the foundation.
However, funding the construction of the project is still up in the air.
Shirk said the Alameda County Agricultural Fair Association will design, build and maintain the farm, but in terms of funding, that will depend on the county fair foundation.
“The Alameda County Fair Foundation is fundraising for capital construction costs,” Shirk said. “Funding sources include corporate and individual donors, grants, sponsorships and discretionary funds from elected officials. The Alameda County Fair Board has also committed $500,000 towards construction.”
In total, Shirk said the overall cost for the facility is approximately $10 million and because of the high price tag, she said the construction will be spread out in four phases.
The first phase, which Shirk said is estimated to cost $2 million, will be constructing the barn, paddock and a petting corral. Phase two will establish plant life and an outdoor pavilion, phase three will be adding the lab and classrooms and the final phase will be building the greenhouse.
The recent partnership with Safeway, Shirk said, helped meet the foundation’s funding goals to break ground on the first phase this year.
“As both a community resource and a field trip destination, the farm will offer hands-on ways to learn where our food comes from,” Shirk said. “The farm can also inspire the next generation of farmers: seeing the latest innovations will get kids excited about working with agriculture technology and dreaming up even better ways to produce our food in the future.”