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The secret mall gardens of Cleveland
By Lisa Selin Davis
Grist
17 March, 2010
The shopping mall is not dead. In Cleveland, in fact, it's growing green: cucumbers, lettuce, herbs and even flowers.
In the former Galleria at Erieview mall, a project called Gardens Under Glass is taking root, part of a grand plan to transform malls into greenhouses. It's just one of many Cleveland-based projects, suggesting that this rust belt city might have a few sustainabilty tricks to teach urban centers everywhere.
Vicky Poole, who heads up marketing for the Galleria, conceived this project after looking at a photograph of plants growing in a cafe window. Hmmm, she thought, imagining a retooled version of the food court. The mall was already scrambling to find innovative uses for itself in a flagging economy, primarily as a wedding hall, but also as a farmers market. A greenhouse, she discovered, could thrive in the building's climate controlled environment under the tremendous glassed-in atrium that runs like a spine down its emtpy center.
Poole and her partner-in-green Jack Hamilton (who manages Artist Review Today magazine and gallery, located in the Galleria) won a $30,000 grant to set up the greenhouse project. The money came from Cleveland's Civic Innovation Lab, which funds ideas for growing the local economy (other projects include a recycled glassware company and a renewable energy group).
In February, spinach, tomatoes, and strawberries were started in a composted soil system produced by a local company. This week, a hydroponic system was delivered that will exponentially increase output. They also added artificial light to supplement the daylight streaming through the glass ceiling.
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