COLCHESTER – At a recent board meeting this month, the West Prairie District school board approved a $320,000 bid from Limbaugh Construction Company, Inc. for the building of a greenhouse structure with funding coming from a variety of philanthropic sources and scores of agricultural students are ready to use the new facility.
Funding for the new greenhouse project was at the top of the list during the meeting with Interim Superintendent Paula Markey and Business Manager Christa Rigg. The project will cost about $320,000 for a 30x60 structure which is already accounted for in the next fiscal year’s budget on the Capitol Funds Project line item, and that even with philanthropic financial contributions from the Tracy Family Foundation (TFF) for $60,000, and several donations from various business for about $10,000 each, the district will be spending about $43,000.
Even with a deficit budget for this greenhouse project, there is approximately $500,000 remaining in the capitol projects fund to cover this, “So we do have the money,” said Markey, and the District may also reach out to the McDonough County Farm Bureau for funding assistance.
Highlights from the West Prairie school board discussion indicates that the new greenhouse project will have a profound beneficial affect on this school district which boasts an enrollment of 600 students, of whom some 165 students are estimated to be enrolled in agricultural classes and Future Farmers of America (FFA). Depending on scheduling, estimates are that 40 to 60 students will be able to use the greenhouse, but all students are going to probably benefit, and so because of the large number of students, usage of the greenhouse may have to be divided into sections.
Markey also provided specific details about the use of the greenhouse for students. The horticulture class, which would be the most directly impacted, with one section of the horticulture class having up to 18 students. Enrollment for the horticulture class next year is undetermined, but the district has had to have multiple sections of the class due to student interest.
Other classes that would use the greenhouse would be the Intro to Agriculture, typically with two sections and up to 40 students, and then Agricultural Exploration with typically three sections and around 50 students. Then the greenhouse would potentially be used by students in Biology and the junior high STEM class.
Revenues generated by the annual sales of flowering plants and other products from the greenhouse in Sciota has generated about $8,000 to $10,000 annually, but the customer base would have to be rebuilt from scratch because the greenhouse has not been used for at least two years.
“Agricultural sales from the first year of the new greenhouse are hard to predict, but one advantage is that the new greenhouse is located in town. Now, of course, you are going to have some from the north who are going to have to travel here as they would have gone to Sciota. I am not sure how much of an advantage or disadvantage that is, but it could potentially be an advantage,” Markey said.
There have been discussions during previous West Prairie District board meetings concerning the potential moving of the existing 20-year old greenhouse that is located Sciota. The estimated cost figures to move that structure could run into the $100,000 price range with additional expenditures for pouring a concrete sidewalk, along with electrical and water infrastructure to be built.
Board President Scott Vogler stated during the meeting that there may be a public misconception that new concrete surfaces are going to be poured inside the new greenhouse. A concrete surface is going to be poured, but the new concrete surface will be located not inside the greenhouse, but poured outside of the greenhouse to facilitate movement for foot traffic and equipment because the site currently selected for the new greenhouse is on a gravel surface next to the asphalt parking lot at the high school.
More details concerning funding and construction developments will be made public as events continue to unfold.
