Evergreen greenhouse on hold

A new greenhouse at Evergreen Elementary School is on hold after the student-designed project failed to win a community improvement grant, school officials said.

Students at Wrangell High School designed the greenhouse as part of the construction trades class. Most of the students in the class said the hoped a new source of funding could be located.

“I really hope they do build it,” said Cody Thomassen. “It would nice.”

The new greenhouse wouldn’t be used, he said.

Students discussed the project with Drew Larrabee for a few weeks before coming out with their plans. The project came about by a suggestion from Wrangell Schools Superintendent Rich Rhodes, Larrabee said.

“It’s different,” he said. “It’s a different type of construction than we usually do.”

The plans call for the greenhouse to be constructed around an angular frame surrounded on all sides by clear plastic, at a cost of between $6,000 and $10,000 depending on the wood used. Anything more exotic than local woods would have to come from Seattle, Larrabe said. The proposed structure’s concrete foundation would differentiate it from the existing structure, Larrabee added.

“The first one had a wood floor which rotted through,” he said.

When pressed, students tried to think of sources of funding to build the project.

“Maybe we could get money from the school,” said Malachi Cole. “Maybe the Gardening Club would do it.”

The class previously constructed a sauna from locally grown red cedar, then auctioned it off last year, Larrabee said.

“We were hoping to make a profit on it,” he said. “In the end, we only got one bid, and we barely made our materials cost back.”

In the meantime, the class is planning to start work this year on a wood smokehouse. Officials with the school system haven’t yet given up, said Rhodes.

“We’re looking for alternative sources of funding for it,” he said.