The formerly vacant greenhouses at Grande Prairie Regional College’s Fairview campus are now budding with the work of Green Island Gardens.
Doug and Brenda Trider are renting the space from the college, and are using it to grow for their corporate clients.
GPRC President Don Gnatiuk adds they’re also looking at educational opportunities.
“With the greenhouse now running at full capacity, there’s an opportunity for demonstration, there’s opportunity for teaching, there’s opportunities for sharing expertise, and then hopefully we’ll be able to add and improve service to our region.”
Gnatiuk adds that the greenhouses used to be an important part of the campus, but at this time there’s not as much demand, so the college is happy to be making some revenue off them.
A similar deal is in place for the Hawker Pavilion riding arena in Fairview, where Swartzy Performance Horses is now operating an equine facility.