For 30 years, Prairie Farm has introduced Champaign residents to local agriculture from a small, constrained site in historic Centennial Park. The site has no indoor program space, animal care facilities, or fully accessible amenities. That keeps the Farm largely seasonal, keeps visits short, and limits how much of its cost it can recover.

The Champaign Park District engaged FRMWRK to study expanding Prairie Farm onto the newly acquired historic Zahnd Farmstead. From the start, the physical design and the business plan were developed together. Working with Zec Eight Insights, FRMWRK paired a market study with an operations and programming plan. Each development scenario was tested for its capital cost, staffing needs, operating expenses, and revenue potential.

The resulting master plan makes the Zahnd Farmstead the Farm’s primary hub and organizes it around three functions: mission, revenue, and support. Livestock barns, demonstration gardens, and outdoor classrooms carry out the Farm’s educational mission. The adaptive reuse of the existing historic barn, grain bins, and Quonset hut creates event venues, a farmstand, and rental spaces whose revenue helps cover operating costs. Centennial Park stays as a satellite site, opened up to the surrounding park for self-directed, year-round experiences.

A phased implementation strategy ties each round of capital investment to specific staffing additions and new revenue sources. This lets the Farm grow at a pace its operations can support. The result is a bold, actionable vision, backed by a realistic business strategy, that will help Prairie Farm engage, educate, and inspire Champaign residents for generations to come.