The State of the Farm and Proposal for the
Slide Ranch Green Barn

Perched on the coast of West Marin, nearly a century of salt water, sea winds and rain have taken their toll on the Ranch's old wooden structures.

Today, facilities for Slide Ranch visitors and staff are patched together and "rustic" at best. The barn for the goats and sheep was repaired by our resourceful facilities staff in 2007 and we are starting to raise funds for other needed repairs. The farm buildings were not meant to last for 100 years, but we have made do with what we have.

Rather than scaling back our programs to fit our battered buildings, we've conceived plans for new educational facilities at Slide Ranch and we have run programs in our yurt, technically a temporary structure. These facilities have been consciously designed to be very simple and to allow us to continue offer a range of programs and services that will enable us to fulfill our mission.

If Slide Ranch is to continue educating and inspiring the people of the Bay Area, we need your help.  Please contact the executive director at 415.381.8758 to discuss plans.

Slide Ranch Green Barn
An Environmental and Food Education Center
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Muir Beach, Marin County, California

Introduction

            Slide Ranch has provided experiential education with environmental and sustainable agriculture curricula since 1970.   Over the years, more than 170,000 visitors, mostly schoolchildren, their teachers and families, have participated in programs and events at this spectacular coastal site perched above the Pacific Ocean in western Marin County.  
The proposed Slide Ranch Green Barn building will be the first to result from an extensive master plan process during the 1990’s that included significant investment in engineering, geotechnical, water, design, planning and other experts, numerous meetings, a comprehensive environmental assessment, public hearings, reviews and approvals.  A Slide Ranch capital campaign raised more than $2.75 Million in the private sector but was not able to secure enough funds to implement more than the initial part of the first phase of the Master Plan.  This included the construction of a parking lot for 25 cars and two housing units for teachers.

Purpose of the Green Barn

A new education center will better serve the more than 8,000 people who come to Slide Ranch each year.  It will provide indoor educational space during cold or rainy days and will feature ADA-accessible restrooms, a demonstration kitchen and gathering space for visitors, school groups, Slide Ranch staff and other organizations coming to this part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.   The proposed site affords dramatic views of the ocean and will act as a portal for hikers on the coastal and Mount Tamalpais trails.
We are proposing a modification in the already-approved barn structure for the purpose of the education center.  It will provide a programmatic hub that connects to our pasture and gardens by carefully graded and packed paths allowing people in wheel chairs to travel between the indoor and outdoor spaces.  The demonstration kitchen will provide a critical enhancement to our program by allowing visitors discover, in a most tangible way, the connections between the land and the food we eat.

A Green Building

            To reduce the environmental impact of the project and demonstrate the use of sustainable materials in construction, we plan to use a significant amount of reclaimed lumber in the Green Barn.  Already, we have a commitment from a donor who will provide most of the lumber and other building materials necessary to build the structure from a large Tiburon house slated for deconstruction in 2008.
GGNRA and the National Park Service have invested extensive resources in the project to date and have a significant interest in seeing the project through to completion, especially in regard to meeting ADA accessibility goals.
Richard Beard, a principal at BAR Architecture of San Francisco, has offered to provide pro bono planning and design services.  BAR has extensive experience with projects in National Parks, most notably in the Presidio of San Francisco.
Tom Sargent, a partner in Equity Community Builders, will advise Slide Ranch on the development of the Green Barn.  ECB most recently developed Cavallo Point, the hotel and retreat center at Fort Baker.

Infrastructure and Landscape

            New water tanks on the hill above the barn will provide fire suppression and water supply for the kitchen and restroom.  A new septic tank and engineered leach line system will move wastewater into an area that was identified by soil engineers as well suited for wastewater filtering and dispersion.  By separating kitchen and bathroom sink water into a grey water system, the load on the septic system will be significantly less.  Filtered grey water can be used for irrigation of a kitchen garden near the Green Barn.  Because the building site is in a separate swale from other existing buildings, wastewater from the new building will not contribute to the ground water in the main swale.
            The site is well situated as a hub for ADA accessible pathways between the Green Barn and other Slide Ranch program areas.  

Entitlements

A Master Plan and Environmental Assessment for the continuing use of Slide Ranch were approved and published in December, 1996.  In the years since that approval, the design development process included extensive planning, engineering and review among the Slide Ranch project team, the National Park Service, the California Coastal Commission and County of Marin.
Schematic designs were completed for all buildings in the master plan and infrastructure drawings were done for fire suppression, wastewater management, landscape and other aspects related to the development.  A Design Development Submittal to the National Park Service prepared by Slide Ranch and its architects in July, 2003, included technical reports for Phase One of the originally approved Master Plan.
Phase One includes construction of a 2400 square foot teaching barn in a location that is most favorable with respect to geotechnical and septic system implementation.  The planned Green Barn includes an ADA-accessible restroom and program facilities.

Cost Estimates

Original cost estimates for Phase One and the teaching barn were done in 2003 and will be updated for the proposed Green Barn.  When the GGNRA has reviewed the project and determined the scope of infrastructure and other work necessary, we will be able to secure a current estimate of costs.
Based on a review of budgets and cost estimates for Phase One in 2003, we estimate cost for the construction of the Green Barn and necessary landscaping and infrastructure to be $2 - $3 million. 

Availability of Matching Funds

As demonstrated during the capital campaign, Slide Ranch is able to inspire a considerable amount of goodwill and generosity in the community.  We will approach potential major donors for this project to match government and foundation grant funds. 
We believe that the significant improvements to accessibility, program and aesthetic will appeal to many new and existing donors.

Contact: Charles Higgins, MSW, Executive Director, 415.381.8758 or email charles@slideranch.org.