A recent gift from the West Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association will help ensure West Virginia University’s new greenhouse continues to grow.

Led by an alumna of WVU’s landscape architecture program, the association recently pledged $50,000 to finish an interior conference room inside the new facility.

“The West Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association has always had a relationship with WVU,” said WVNLA Executive Director Beth Loflin. “When the greenhouse opportunity presented itself, it seemed logical for our association to continue with this long-lasting bond.”

Rudolph P. Almasy, interim dean of the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, said it’s wonderful that the association continues to be interested in supporting the College’s students and faculty.

“The generosity and concern of this organization will help make great things happen in the university’s new greenhouse,” he added.

Almasy also believes the connection between the Davis College and WVNLA shows the importance of fostering and maintaining relationships with alumni and appropriate industries to help enhance student educational experiences, and Loflin couldn’t agree more.

“Knowing now how important it is for students to interact with industry and businesses, both in West Virginia and nationally, I’m proud to be part of an organization that fosters that,” she said. “We totally support student-business interaction, whether through annual volunteer projects or scholarships. We enjoy supporting WVU and its students, and we plan on having a long-term relationship with both.”

The association already has a rich history with the Davis College having awarded scholarships to students pursuing degrees that align with green industry like horticulture or landscape architecture and providing support funds for faculty research and student focused educational trips.

The $50,000 greenhouse gift will create the West Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association Conference Room, allowing an area previously designated as shell space for future growth to be finished at the same time as the rest of the building, which helps reduce costs and maximize efficiency.

The pledged funds will go toward finishing the space and outfitting it with necessary furniture and audio-visual equipment. With assistance from the association, strides are being made to identify West Virginia-made goods like chairs and wood products to use in the room.

“The WVU Greenhouse is going to be such a great place for students and researchers to learn and experiment,” Loflin said. “Our association believes in WVU and the students who are seeking a career in the green industry. We realize these are our future leaders and we need to support them.”

In addition to WVNLA, the project was made possible through a combination of University support, private donation and partnership with the USDA Forest Service, which will share laboratory space in the finished greenhouse.

Construction on the 28,250 square foot facility began in the fall of 2011 and is expected to wrap up this summer. The head house, approximately 9,250 square feet, will include 5,950 square feet for wet and dry lab spaces, two academic classrooms, an office, and support spaces. The new glass greenhouse structures will have approximately 19,000 square feet to be shared by the Davis College and the USDA Forest Service.

Gifts supporting the project were made through the WVU Foundation, the private, non-profit corporation that generates, receives and administers private gifts for the benefit of WVU.

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law/04/10/12

CONTACT: Lindsay Willey, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design
304-293-2381, Lindsay.Willey@mail.wvu.edu

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