Southern Door Seeks Grants For Greenhouse, Dust Collection System

There’s still a chance Southern Door School District will have enough money remaining in a contingency fund to build the shell of a greenhouse included in a voter-approved capital-improvement plan.

Southern Door schools interim superintendent Tony Klaubauf said he has made construction of the greenhouse a priority, after school officials learned that an indoor athletic training and practice facility with artificial turf will gobble up much of the remaining capital-improvement budget.

General contractor Miron Construction told the school there’s a chance there will be enough money left over from the $14.9 million building referendum to complete part of the greenhouse, such as floors, walls, clear panels, furnace and motorized sidewall vents.

Southern Door signed paperwork for Cooperative Education Service Agency 6 to help apply for a U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm to School Turnkey grant of up to $50,000 to equip the greenhouse with everything from tables to furnishings and hydroponics.

Klaubauf said construction of a bus-mechanics garage that would have cost about $1 million won’t happen anytime soon.

Also, Klaubauf has prioritized the upgrade of a dust-collection system to improve air quality in the technical education area, including the woodshop, and the district will apply for a grant from Sturgeon Bay-based Raibrook Foundation in December or January.