Thunder Bay’s Conservatory and greenhouses are before city council Monday night, part of a report of what to do with the area from city staff.
City Council is going to vote Monday night on whether to start replacing the seasonal greenhouse this year. They will also decide whether to set aside funding in the 2021 budget for the facility.
Northwood Councillor Shelby Ch’ng is asking Council to earmark $130,000 of the 2018 Municipal Accommodation Tax Reserve Fund for work to be done in 2021.
Ch’ng says she hopes funding to expand the two wings will come from the Tourism Investment Committee, adding the Conservatory is a popular attraction.
“It’s a well loved, well used facility, and many guests come and visit there. So if we could get that campus room open, and the multi-purpose room open, I think that would be a huge draw,” Ch’ng notes.
The city councillor adds some suggest moving the facility to the waterfront, but she feels many would oppose that due to the cost.
Manager of Parks Cory Halvorsen explains a new conservatory could be used more for events and meetings, while the greenhouses are simply at the end of their life.
“It can’t be repaired any longer, so if we’re going to keep moving forward doing production of our own flowers and plants for the parks, as well as our low impact development storm water facilities, we are going to need a greenhouse,” he points out.
The parks manager adds after seeking community input the last few years, which he says has been positive, council will be asked to grant spending also to replace the greenhouses.
“Greenhouse replacement is estimated at $1.8-million, that would be to do it so that it’s there for another 25 years. Conservatory renewal itself I believe is at $2.8 to 3.6-million,” estimates Halvorsen.
Council already decided this year that they would replace the seasonal greenhouse where plants are prepared for planting, but didn’t finalize when the work would be done.
