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Masked workers are removing caulking containing asbestos from the greenhouse near the John Roach Center to help prepare extra greenhouse and lab spaces for the growing biology department.
Construction on the greenhouse will officially begin May 24 and is expected to be completed by the time school resumes in the fall. In addition to a renovated greenhouse, the biology department will also gain two new botanical labs on the first floor and lower level of JRC and two first-floor offices.
“They’re removing the greenhouse glass, and the caulking between the glass contains asbestos,” said Jim Hoffman, physical plant assistant director. “The only issue is when they’re removing it, so they have to remove it in a safe manner.”
Greenhouse manager Steve Trost said the greenhouse was built in 1960 and glass from that time period “can break into big shards and stab you” if it happens to fall, so they are installing new glass. He said the JRC greenhouse has sat vacant for 13 years since the biology department moved the plants and botanical labs to the Owens Science Hall greenhouse.
“At one time it was going to be torn down, but the Rev. Dennis Dease said it was too historical and needed to be kept,” Trost said. “They also considered putting a coffee shop in it, the coffee shop that’s now in the library, but that was too expensive.”
He said the renovated greenhouse will be a “mini Como Park conservatory.”
“Because there are so many students using the OWS greenhouse for research and biology projects, we’re going to turn the JRC greenhouse into an educational conservatory,” Trost said. “It will be full of educational plants used for botany classes, starter plants for the community garden once we get it, and the tropical plants.”
He said the greenhouse will have a cooling and misting system to simulate a tropical rainforest environment, and it will have high-pressure sodium lights “to keep the plants happy.”
Trost said the additional greenhouse and lab spaces are needed due to increases in biology enrollment and a lack of greenhouse bench space for lab classes.
Katie Broadwell can be reached at klbroadwell@stthomas.edu.