Hastings Downtown Facility
Low Impact Development Demonstration & Research

The Hastings Downtown Facility consists of approximately 64 acres of land located in the town of Hastings off Highway 13 in St. Johns County. Infrastructure at the Hastings Downtown Facility includes the main office building for the UF/IFAS Partnership, workshop, greenhouse, one enclosed barn, and two covered storage areas.

This facility includes approximately 15 acres for crop production research as well as 38 acres of wetland that borders Deep Creek. In 1987, the crop production area was converted to a citrus nursery for offsite faculty to conduct citrus canker and freeze protection research. The "heavier" soils found at the Hastings Downtown Facility are inappropriate for potato production but are acceptable for small fruit crops, sod, and cole crop production, and for resource-efficient community research.

The downtown unit will be partitioned into alternative agriculture areas and Low Impact Development storm water management research and demonstrations areas. Storm water management focuses on both quantity and quality and addresses three critical components: source control, conveyance, and treatment.

The Hastings Downtown Facility will be instrumental in its ability to assess environmental concerns surrounding community activities associated with development. The unit will also demonstrate to stakeholders concepts and practices at the landscape, home lot, and yard scale so that they will recognize potential impacts of certain existing practices and learn alternative solutions to be integrated into new development.

Read about the Hastings Downtown research projects and programs.