Public Employee Press

Union members make it
A greener Greenhouse

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

A grand old lady showed off a magnificent facelift this spring when the Parks Dept. opened its rebuilt Queens Greenhouse. DC 37 members maintain and run the 107-year old facility and helped oversee the two-year, $3.8 million construction project.

Dedicated public employees in DC 37 locals played a major role in the rehab project, with Local 375 Project Manager Andy Golba supervising the on-site construction, and they are key to day-to-day operations. Gardener Sally Frazier of Local 1507 and Parks Supervisor Mark Ford of Local 1508 propagate and maintain the exotic tropical plants and trees the city uses to decorate events.

The greenhouse restoration will help the Parks Dept. harvest 25 percent more plant life, and the city will save money cultivating its own colorful annuals and trees for planting along neighborhood sidewalks, in parks and beside green streets in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan.

The Queens Greenhouse formerly had three glass and steel structures with old mechanical fans, cracked windows and rusting frames. The new buildings cover the old footprint, but now two state-of-the-art structures feature high-tech, lightweight clear acrylic panels that are resilient and maintenance free, and expandable raised beds along with computerized shading, ventilation and irrigation systems to easily maintain the 70-degree moisture-balanced environment the plants thrive in.

Ford credits retired Local 1508 Principal Parks Supervisor Frank Colletta for envisioning the possibility of a safer, more efficient and modern facility. While the Queens Greenhouse is not quite a LEED-certified green building, it will be a model for the future efficient, ecological greenhouse rehab projects the Parks Dept. plans for the Bronx and Staten Island.