FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
Lori Bellingham, Pikes Peak Community Foundation
(719) 331-6443, lbellingham@ppcf.org
Venetucci Farm Blooms with Reimagined Purpose While Grounded in Celebrated Legacy
(Colorado Springs, CO) Mar. 1, 2021 – The Pikes Peak Community Foundation (PPCF) today announced that Venetucci Farm, a community icon placed under conservation easement in 2006 with Colorado Public Lands and managed by PPCF, has entered into a five-year lease with Gather Mountain Blooms, an urban flower farm.
Using sustainable growing practices, flowers will range from old fashioned heirlooms to Colorado mountain blooms and incorporate many herbs and grasses. Gather Mountain Blooms will host on-farm flower workshops, farm tours and a weekly flower stand.
Later this year, the Farm & Events Barn will welcome community events and intimate celebrations like weddings, family reunions, corporate events and celebrations surrounded by Venetucci Farm's authentic ambiance and history.
While environmental impacts have forced the farm to reimagine its role in the community, Nick and Bambi Venetucci’s long standing legacy will continue with the application of sustainable growing principles, the annual pumpkin festival and kindergarten pumpkin giveaway, and welcoming the community to the farm for memory-making.
In 2019, QUAD Innovation Alliance published a report "Venetucci Farm - Re-imagining a Community Asset.” The organization conducted extensive community interviews and analyzed case studies on how to best utilize Venetucci Farm into the next decade. The report recommended a wedding venue, pumpkin festival, and a distillery. The distillery was ultimately replaced by a flower farm, but the rest is being fully implemented by Gather Mountain Blooms.
“Venetucci Farm is sacred ground to those of us who grew up in Colorado Springs,” said Sam Clark, Executive Director, Pikes Peak Real Estate Foundation, a supporting organization of the Pikes Peak Community Foundation. “We have spent the last two years planning for its strong future and are pleased to be sharing the space with Gather Mountain Blooms, a company that understands the significance of the farm’s history and the powerful role it plays in many community members’ lives.”
On May 11 and 15, Venetucci Farm is hosting a Community Tour for those interested in visiting the Farm. Click HERE to sign up.
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About Pikes Peak Community Foundation Pikes Peak Community Foundation has been building community since 1928. We inspire generosity, serve donors, and mobilize resources to build community capital and effectively address issues facing the Pikes Peak Region. For more than 90 years, PPCF donors have invested more than $100 million in nonprofit organizations throughout the Pikes Peak Region. Visit PPCF.org.