Hovey House is the little house at 800 W. Hovey that brings the Grant Beach neighborhood together.

Saved from demolition several years ago, the house is now home to the Grant Beach Neighborhood Association, Springfield’s first community garden, Grant Beach sports programs and a full schedule of neighborhood activities.

More than that, Hovey House is a place where neighbors gather to learn, organize, eat and get to know one another.

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[pullquote]“We don’t have to worry about where we’re going to hold events. It gives us a centrally located place to do all of our things. And it’s really brought the community together.”

– Anita Kuhns, president, Grant Beach Neighborhood Association [/pullquote]

Hovey House was a private residence before it and a row of houses on the edge of Grant Beach Park were purchased by the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, as part of the School-Park program.

“Initially we were just going to demolish all the homes along Hovey, and abandon Hovey Street for one block to attach Grant Beach Park to Weaver Elementary,” recalled Assistant Parks Director Miles Park, who oversaw the project. “But this one house was in good condition, so it made sense to preserve it.”

Park said the Grant Beach Neighborhood Association approached the Park Board with a vision to utilize the house as a base for neighborhood programs. The Park Board agreed, and Hovey House opened as a community resource center in March 2010.

Plans to connect Weaver with the park changed, freeing up space for more options at Hovey House.

“So although the initial concept has changed, having Hovey House there near Weaver and Grant Beach, it really is an anchor for the Grant Beach neighborhood,” he said.

Pauletta Dunn, who was president of the neighborhood association in 2010, said the group quickly found multiple uses for Hovey House.

“[The timing] just worked out great,” said Dunn. “We had started the Grant Beach sports program. So it became the home base for the community garden, the sports programs, some tutoring programs, and now every other neighborhood wants a Hovey House.”

Youth sports programs are coordinated by the neighborhood association, with soccer in the spring and fall and baseball in the summer, for kids ages 3-12.

Non-profit group Springfield Community Gardens worked with the Park Board and the neighborhood association to build its first community garden adjacent to Hovey House — a project that served as a model for the additional gardens and  continues to bring Grant Beach neighbors together.

Grant Beach Community Garden members pay a $5 annual fee, and must volunteer at least two hours a month in the garden or at Hovey House. In exchange, members partake in weekly produce distributions, from both the garden and Ozarks Food Harvest. The program is open to anyone willing to volunteer.

Kuhns said volunteers do more than just dig in the dirt.

“We realize we have a lot of people that can’t get physically down into the garden, and in the winter there’s not as much to do in the garden,” she said. “So we’ve come up with  other ideas, like labeling seed packages for the seed swap, filing in the Hovey House, cleaning, dusting, sweeping and labeling items for the sports program.”

Produce distributions vary based on household size, and they’re a huge boost to anyone living on a budget, said Dunn.

“You don’t really realize how much money you are saving until you look at the cost of buying the stuff you have,” said Dunn. “Fresh fruit is not cheap. A lot of families get by without, but it’s really nice to have.”

The produce distributions have led to popular cooking demonstrations at Hovey House, first started by the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.

“Now people who have the garden memberships are starting to do cooking demonstrations,” said Kuhns. “They’re really good at swapping recipes and ideas. It’s starting to turn into a family unit.”

Hovey House is also home to a Little Free Library, Health Department blood pressure screenings, fiber arts classes, board game nights, a Spring Seed Swap and Neighborhood Night Out events, vegan potluck dinners and non-denominational devotional gatherings.

Spring youth soccer begins the second week in April, and baseball registration opens at the end of April. A bluegrass-and-barbecue fundraiser for the garden is planned for April 30, 4-6 p.m.

For more information on these programs, call Hovey House at 417-942-2456 or visit Grant Beach Neighborhood Association on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/GrantBeachNeighborhoodAssociation/