THUNDER BAY — The City of Thunder Bay is proceeding with plans to demolish and replace the deteriorating production greenhouses at the Centennial Botanical Conservatory.
The city is now advertising for a consultant for the project, which has a budgeted cost of $1.8 million.
Preliminary plans call for a double-peaked structure up to 9,500 square feet in size.
Replacing the greenhouses is just the first step in the renewal of the entire conservatory, which could require up to about $3 million more.
City council approved the greenhouse project earlier this year despite the fact that a system-wide program and services review by consultants Grant Thornton had recommended the complete closure of the conservatory.
However, city administration countered that there is significant support for the conservatory in the community, and that renewing it could save more than $5 million over 30 years compared to the cost of purchasing plants and contracting planting services from the private sector.
The greenhouses support the conservatory as well as supplying plants for city parks and flower beds.
Council was told a new production greenhouse will generate up to $120,000 in annual savings by adding room to grow plants for the city's Low Impact Developments (LIDs) in-house, as well as $36,000 in yearly energy savings.
LIDs are engineered rain gardens, part of the city's stormwater management strategy, and are designed to help avert flooding while reducing pollutants in run-off.
The city hopes to appoint a consultant for the greenhouse project by February 2021.
Construction would begin in August, with the opening anticipated by December 2021.
