Rapid City Greenhouse takes major steps toward completion

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - If you ever find yourself appreciating the flowers and plant life at the many parks here in Rapid City, you have the city greenhouse to thank.

About two months ago we reported on Rapid City building a newer, much bigger greenhouse for Parks and Recreation to use in supplying our gardens with flowers and keeping Rapid City beautiful. Since then, crews have been hard at work getting the greenhouse ready.

“Yeah, we’re just kinda getting the finishing touches on the greenhouse. The project started last fall we had the foundation work done and then this spring when the temperatures warmed up a little we had the greenhouse installation crew show up. The installation went very well and right now they’re finishing the electrical and HVAC stuff inside,” Scott Anderson, the City Division Parks Manager for Rapid City, said.

This new greenhouse will be a significant upgrade from the one used previously.

“It functioned okay but it was really inefficient. It had side ventilation which really doesn’t work very well, so the new one will have end-to-end ventilation and we have a cooling wall on the front so in the warmer times the cooling wall should help by 10-15 degrees cooler,” Anderson said.

Additionally, the old greenhouse needed shade cloth to be installed when it was too warm for the greenhouse to function properly and the new greenhouse will include an automated system to shade the greenhouse on its own. The new greenhouse will also be made of polycarbonate panels which last longer and are more efficient for temperature control.

There is still a little work left to be done but the new greenhouse is expected to be in use by next spring.

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