City Administration is proposing a short-term private procurement of plants with a long-term vision for shared greenhouse space as part of a report on future options for a City Greenhouse. The proposal will be considered by City Council’s Standing Policy Committee on Planning, Development, and Community Services on June 7.
Through a public procurement process, the City secured a private vendor to provide seasonal plants for the 2023 season after a September 2022 engineering assessment indicated increasing safety and structural issues with the City’s greenhouse facility and recommended it be vacated.
“The vision is for a potential long-term greenhouse which could see the City exploring partnerships with various groups throughout the city, such as Meewasin, the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Polytechnic, the Saskatoon Food Bank, and others,” says Darren Crilly, Director of Parks. “Initial discussions with these groups reveal that each needs greenhouse space and that a shared space opportunity could be examined further. Additionally, this option has the potential to include learning, research, and community programming about native species, food security, and seed bank storage.”
As recommended in the report to be considered by the committee in the short term (three to five years), plant material would be procured from the private sector while the City continues to pursue partnerships and develop the best greenhouse model possible. Further reporting will occur as discussions with partners progress. Numerous future options are laid out in the administration report, each of which envisions maintaining the current service level with the potential for future expansion. Under all options, Conservatory material currently stored in the Greenhouse will be moved to suitable City facilities for the time being.
Source: saskatoon.ca