TOUGH EGG TO CRACK

Local farm struggles with nearby construction

By Tim Forsberg
Posted 6/22/17

Bob Stamp of Stamp Farms has felt cooped up by the Narragansett Bay Commission’s (NBC) sewer and water line extension project on Greenville Avenue, and he wants the community to know his farm is …

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TOUGH EGG TO CRACK

Local farm struggles with nearby construction

Posted

Bob Stamp of Stamp Farms has felt cooped up by the Narragansett Bay Commission’s (NBC) sewer and water line extension project on Greenville Avenue, and he wants the community to know his farm is open for business.

“It’s been slow because of the construction, and I think business will come back, but it’s been real slow. I think the problem is a lot of people thought we were closed,” said Stamp. “Some days we’re off by 50 percent, some days more, some days less.”

Opened in 1937, the farm has been in the Stamp family for three generations. The 53-year-old farmer has just under 3,000 ISA Brown chickens on the 13-acre farm that he calls home. The hens lay about the same number of eggs each day, and the birds are free to roam throughout a huge coop.

The farm is located on the corner of Brown and Greenville Avenues. When the NBC began construction of the sewer extension project in mid-April, Greenville Avenue directly in front of the farm was closed except to local traffic. Police were stationed right at the corner of Brown and Greenville Avenues directing traffic in front of the farm for about six weeks. Sign changes, such as those indicating local traffic only, may have hindered business.

NBC made additional signs for Stamp stating the farm was open, which he called “very nice,” and he said local officials have been supportive, but business still suffered.

“It’s coming back slow, and people are calling asking if we’re open,” he said.

Construction has now moved toward Salina Avenue and away from the farm, and the police details have moved there as well. While Stamp Farm will not be able to tie into sewers with this project, as the lines will not reach the farm, Stamp said he wasn’t opposed to the construction or the Citizens Campus project.

“You can’t fight progress, but it should be fine,” he said.

While his on-site business has declined in the short term, Stamp has relied on other customers that have carried him through.

“Thank God I have wholesale customers. If I just sold here I wouldn’t have made it,” said Stamp.

Stamp Farm’s hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed for lunch from noon until 1 p.m. Wednesday and Sunday they’re open 9 a.m. until noon, and on Saturday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Their phone number is 949-3600.

“This project will be done soon, and things will get back to normal,” said Stamp. “Maybe with all that we’ve been through, if Citizens Bank has a cafeteria maybe they’d like to sell Stamp Farm eggs there.”

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