The horticulture department in the College of Agriculture has recently begun fundraising efforts to replace its current greenhouse, parts of which are nearly a century old.

The department received approval from the Board of Regents at the board’s May 1 meeting to proceed with planning for the new facility.

The plan for the new greenhouse currently projects it to be built in the same location as the old greenhouse complex, which is attached to Horticulture Hall, just east of Catt Hall.

Brian Meyer, program director of agriculture communications, said the old facility is “in dire need of something new.”

“Horticulture remains a very strong major within the College of Agriculture, but the facilities haven’t really kept up with the times,” Meyer said.

Currently, the department plans to raise nearly all of the approximately $6 million needed for the project through private donations, with a small amount of money coming from the College of Agriculture’s budget, Meyer said.

Approximately $100,000 has been raised so far, he said.

Jeff Iles, professor and chairman of horticulture, said although the fundraising may seem difficult, building a new facility is absolutely necessary.

“I’m committed to getting this done, and we really have no choice,” Iles said. “If we fail, the greenhouses might cease to exist. There’s a sense of urgency here.”

Iles said parts of the current facility date back to 1915, and although “old is not a bad thing,” the greenhouse industry has made significant technological advances since that time.

“We want to train our students in the latest technology. Our students aren’t given that benefit,” Iles said.

Specifically, Iles said, climate control and insect control are important issues for producing high-quality plants, and current technology has automated systems for maintaining those important dynamics.

Because of the facility’s age, Iles said, there are holes in the building that make it difficult to have control over insects, and the facility lacks adequate cooling systems during the summer, making it impossible to control the climate.

“In the summertime, the greenhouse is not used to its full potential,” Iles said. “It’s a loss to the department, and it’s a loss to the university,” Iles said.

These sorts of situations do not, Iles said, give students an adequate idea of what their future in the industry will look like – a problem not only for the students who currently attend the university, but also for attracting prospective students.

“We’re in a recruiting battle; there’s no getting around that,” Iles said. “Iowa State is competing for students. To be competitive, we need good facilities.”

The faculty also faces great obstacles in research because of how difficult it is to control the climate in the greenhouse, Iles said.

“Any research that’s done here we try to publish,” Iles said. “The research has to be carefully controlled.”

Iles also mentioned the publicity aspect of having a good facility.

Alumni and others outside the university community often visit the greenhouses to look at the plants or to make purchases during the annual Veishea plant sale, and the current facility does not allow the department to make an excellent impression on these visitors, Iles said.

“We’re not putting on the best face,” he said.

Arlen Patrick, agriculture specialist and greenhouse manager, has been working at the current greenhouse complex for nearly 30 years. For 20 of those years, he has been the manager.

Patrick said the need for a new facility has been an issue for “at least 20 years, but in the last five to 10, it’s gotten to the point where we’ve realized we have to do something or we’re going to be condemned.”

Safety is one problem the facility currently faces, Patrick said. When the wind gets too strong, he said, the greenhouses are closed to students because glass can fall.

Also, Patrick said, the metal holding up the building is iron, a metal no longer used in constructing greenhouses because it rusts. The amount of disintegration in some places of the current facility is so extreme that it has become a safety issue.

“There are places where the rust has eaten away more than 50 percent of the standing columns,” Patrick said.

The greenhouse complex is also lacking from an ecological standpoint, he said, since it leaks heat in the wintertime.

“Our greenhouses are energy wasters,” Patrick said.

ISU President Gregory Geoffroy said he is convinced of the department’s need for a new facility.

“I’ve been in the greenhouses, and it’s very apparent that they’re old and should be replaced,” he said. “And the greenhouses are very important for the horticulture department.”

Regarding the large amount of fundraising to be done, Geoffroy said although internal funding may be looked to as an option in the future, at this time, it’s very important to try to raise private funds.

“We’re going to work as hard as we can,” he said.