Pittsburgh, PA - Friday, October 19th, 2001 - 9:30 am.-1600 Metropolitan Street. William E. Strickland, Jr., President and CEO of the Manchester Bidwell Corporation and other dignitaries including Senator Rick Santorum; State Senator Jane Orie; representatives from Pittsburgh Mayor, Tom Murphy’s office; and representatives from Allegheny County Chief Executive, Jim Roddey’s office will attend the ground breaking ceremony for Pittsburgh’s first high production, controlled environment greenhouse facility and educational center. The Harbor Gardens Park Greenhouse will be a technologically advanced facility designed to maximize production and revenue generation while providing training opportunities in horticulture and agriculture leading to real employment. This new horticultural unit of the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and Bidwell Training Center will be approximately 38,000 square feet.

The greenhouse is expected to be operational in the fall of 2002 and will specialize in orchid cultivation with a section of the complex devoted to growing tomatoes hydroponically, a method of growing plants in nutrient rich solutions, often without soil and in a limited amount of space.

The greenhouse and its supporting facilities will be designed by a team of design professionals that include John A. Ammon and associates of Baltimore, Maryland, as design architect; Pittsburgh’s L.D. Astorino as master planner; and Rough Brothers, Inc. a design/build fabricator of research, production and educational greenhouse facilities whose portfolio includes national and international work for leading universities and growers. The greenhouse will be built with materials made by Pittsburgh companies including polycarbonate from Bayer Corporation; aluminum from ALCOA; and glass from PPG Industries.

George Vazquez of Zuma Canyon Orchids Inc., a family owned, Malibu, California based orchid grower will provide consulting services and horticulture curriculum development. Mr. Vazquez will also donate approximately 50,000 orchid plants to get the operation started. Penn State University’s Department of Horticulture will also be involved with curriculum development and the American Orchid Society has expressed support as well.

Funding for the greenhouse will include federal, state, city and county funds. Funders include: U. S. Department of Commerce - Economic Development Administration; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development; Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh; Department of Economic Development - County of Allegheny; The Mary Hillman Jennings Foundation; ALCOA; PPG Industries, Inc.; Bayer Corporation and Zuma Canyon Orchids.