Campus sustainability garden plans still in growing stage
Jessie Tuttle
Issue date: 10/7/09 Section: News
Plans to build a sustainability garden on campus have stalled and supporters of the project aren't happy.
The plan was for the College of Business to use such a garden outside Hyland Hall for out-of-class learning incorporating hands-on experience. Students would learn to grow a garden, sell, produce and promote sustainability.
Lecturer Sharon Roy, who proposed the idea in May, said she plans to address the issue next week in a meeting with Chancellor Richard Telfer. Roy received a Strategic Initiatives grant of $31,800 to pay for the garden, but the Campus Landscape and Planning Committee has yet to approve the plan.
Originally, the garden was to be located on the southeast end of Hyland Hall, but more recent plans call for the vegetable garden to be on the north end of Roseman Hall and the international portion near Hyland Hall.
Beth Lueck, chair of the Campus Landscape and Planning Committee last year, said there were concerns about the proposal, such as whether the garden would impede traffic, be vandalized or wouldn't fit in with the design that had already been approved for Hyland Hall.
After the May meeting, the committee requested to see a business plan, a future plan for maintenance showing it wouldn't put a burden on the groundskeepers, and a specific design for placement, Lueck said.
"I think [the Campus Landscape and Planning Committee] supported it from the beginning," Lueck said. "We've worked really hard to beautify the campus, and the landscaping, like other departments, have had their budgets cut and cut, so we are very glad when somebody is willing to do a garden."
The committee is waiting to see what will be presented at a fall meeting.
Shannon Erb, president of Students Allied for a Green Earth, said she thinks the garden would be a great learning experience and would reduce the carbon footprint
"This is what SAGE stands for," Erb said. "By using the space we have and what's available to us, we can contribute to the earth and sustainability."
The plan was for the College of Business to use such a garden outside Hyland Hall for out-of-class learning incorporating hands-on experience. Students would learn to grow a garden, sell, produce and promote sustainability.
Lecturer Sharon Roy, who proposed the idea in May, said she plans to address the issue next week in a meeting with Chancellor Richard Telfer. Roy received a Strategic Initiatives grant of $31,800 to pay for the garden, but the Campus Landscape and Planning Committee has yet to approve the plan.
Originally, the garden was to be located on the southeast end of Hyland Hall, but more recent plans call for the vegetable garden to be on the north end of Roseman Hall and the international portion near Hyland Hall.
Beth Lueck, chair of the Campus Landscape and Planning Committee last year, said there were concerns about the proposal, such as whether the garden would impede traffic, be vandalized or wouldn't fit in with the design that had already been approved for Hyland Hall.
After the May meeting, the committee requested to see a business plan, a future plan for maintenance showing it wouldn't put a burden on the groundskeepers, and a specific design for placement, Lueck said.
"I think [the Campus Landscape and Planning Committee] supported it from the beginning," Lueck said. "We've worked really hard to beautify the campus, and the landscaping, like other departments, have had their budgets cut and cut, so we are very glad when somebody is willing to do a garden."
The committee is waiting to see what will be presented at a fall meeting.
Shannon Erb, president of Students Allied for a Green Earth, said she thinks the garden would be a great learning experience and would reduce the carbon footprint
"This is what SAGE stands for," Erb said. "By using the space we have and what's available to us, we can contribute to the earth and sustainability."
Be the first to comment on this story