The Bailey and Sarah Williamson Preserve has a new 40 x 60-foot timber frame agriculture and education pavilion located along Walnut Hill Way. Some of the wood is selectively harvested from a TLC property in Wake County by a local horse logger to help create healthier forest habitat and are used as accent knee braces in the structure.
Once completed, the pavilion will serve as an educational event space for the community, hosting farming workshops, special meetings, classes, and events, including a place for our PINES Fellows to meet.
The timber frame for the agriculture pavilion was completed in February 2023 by Earth-Bound Building, a Maryland-based company. Earth-Bound Building is a worker-owned collective of skilled Black builders, craftspeople, and farmers that specialize in timber framing, natural building, and agricultural infrastructure using sustainable low-impact construction methods in their projects. However, the pavilion is not yet fully operational, as several essential tasks, including the installation of the roof, fixtures for the wash/pack station, a walk-in cooler, and wiring, are yet to be completed.
We were Inspired to hire Earth-Bound Building after seeing a similarly constructed pavilion built for Earthseed Land Collective, a farming collective in Durham County where TLC holds an easement.
Danny from Shady Grove Produce and one of the new farmers at Williamson shared, “The Ag Pavilion will facilitate a fresher and cleaner product with the use of the wash/pack station and a walk- in cooler. We look forward to this project being completed and hope to have access this summer!” Williamson hosts several new and beginning farmers who use sustainable agriculture practices that include regenerative cattle grazing, native plant propagation, and small-scale produce production. This “NextGen” farming program is supported in part by Wake County.
We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of The Jandy Ammons Foundation and an anonymous donor who made this beautiful addition to the preserve possible. Their support has been instrumental in bringing this vision to life, and we are inspired by their commitment to supporting local food producers like Danny.
