After over a year of planning, the Old Firehall Collective Society (OFHC) has the go-ahead to bring a geothermal greenhouse and community garden to the Nakusp Secondary School grounds.
The project aims to provide year-long access to fresh food and a "living science lab" for students, said Rosemary Hughes, who sits on the OFHC's board of directors. "We're really excited about it," she said. "There is a population here that would do really well if they had access to fresh fruits and fresh vegetables all year."
The Old Fire Hall Collective is an all-volunteer organization created to restore the agricultural sector in Nakusp and area, and promote self-sufficiency in food production. "This is a region that once produced up to 95% of its food locally before the flooding of Arrow Lakes to create a reservoir," reads its brochure. "Now, it has fewer than a dozen market gardens and farm producers to feed the region."
Years of work have brought the collective to where it is today: an agricultural and food hub in the old Nakusp fire hall building, offering a commercial kitchen, garden equipment rentals, resource library, community programming, farmers' and crafters' markets, and a rental space.
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