Greenhouse opens its doors to gain support

Hundreds of species of plants stay out of the bitter winter weather inside the warm Kent State University Greenhouse, Herrick Conservatory, located behind Cunningham hall.

Cunningham Hall’s greenhouse will present the Herrick Conservatory Restoration Project open house on Monday, Feb. 16 from noon to 6 p.m in an effort to pull in more donations.

With its open house, the greenhouse hopes to gather support from prospective donors to improve its infrastructure as well as make it more appealing to the Kent State student population.

Melissa Davis, the director of horticultural facilities at the greenhouse, said that with the potential donors from this open house, the greenhouse can hopefully “improve energy efficiency,” “get an environmental control system,” and replace the manual windows and vents in the ceiling with automated controls.

Although the greenhouse is still under construction, Davis said she encourages everyone — from students to the general public — to stop by for a visit Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Contact Jacob Runnels at [email protected].