A majority of the plants in the Shineman Center greenhouse were lost over the weekend due to mechanical failure in the building caused by cold temperatures.

The heat pumps failed Sunday night, which caused the temperature in Shineman to drop sharply. Temperatures outside were below zero. The northwest stairwell and the greenhouse had the most damage, according to utilities manager John Becker.

“Both areas have a lot of glass, which does not have the best insulation value,” Becker said.

Sprinkler lines in the stairwell ruptured and the greenhouse had ruptured heat, sprinkler and domestic water lines.

Senior Katie Mannise, was in classes in Shineman Monday morning.

“I was there through the many alarms and evacuations,” Mannise said. “I was just hoping it wasn’t in the greenhouse and it started somewhere else.”
The system was designed with a back-up, but that failed as well. The repairs were made to the heat pumps and main building sprinkler lines in under 24 hours, but the utilities staff is waiting for parts to make repairs on the greenhouse.

Hundreds of plants in the greenhouse were damaged, said Kamal Mohamed, a professor in the biological science department. Mohamed estimated that 85 to 90 percent of the plants will not be recovered, although it will take a few weeks to determine which plants will survive. Some of these were only found in a few parts of the world and will need to be gathered again. Other plants were propagated in the greenhouse.

According to Mohamed, the greenhouse began adding plants in the fall of 2013 and it will take a couple years to recover everything.

“We are very sad, very upset about it,” Mohamed said.

Mohamed especially regrets the loss of gnetum, pineapple that were about to flower and aloe plants that had never been seen blooming before, but that were about to flower.

Some plants were moved to the biology lab in Shineman or to the hallway and windowsills in front of the biology office.

The loss of plants also affects students.

Mannise is currently taking BIO 492, a plant biology research class, and had part of her project in the greenhouse. She said she was “frustrated” that her preparation and work was lost.

“I lost all nine of my pineapple plants for research, which means I will have to start over again at square one,” Mannise said. “My plants were part of my research on indole-3-acetic acid on rooting of pineapples. I have to begin with potting and prepping again. There really isn’t any time to waste in order to meet deadlines for my research class.”

Lisa Watkins is also enrolled in BIO 492. She replanted her project the next day and said her plants are now growing on a windowsill.

“I figured, for once it wasn’t my fault my plants died,” Watkins said.

The cost of the plants lost is still being estimated. The damages to the plants were not covered by insurance, but the campus has emergency funding to allow for repairs to the physical space.

“As frustrated as I was for losing my plants, I felt for the professors and other students that lost some very rare plants and plants that have been part of much longer studies,” Mannise said.

Kevin Wanniarachchi, a biology major, thinks the plants were lost as a result of unpreparedness.

“They should have had a back-up plan,” Wanniarachchi said. “There are plants everywhere and they don’t have anywhere to put them.”

Bricker said more back-ups and alert systems are being added to avoid this problem in the future.

“The building system alarms are reporting to the Central Heating Plant which has staff covered 24/7 and critical alarm e-mails will go out to key utility staff,” Bricker said. “As an added measure, so we don’t totally rely on technology, when temperatures are below freezing staff will be assigned to walk buildings and physically check the equipment.”

Mohamed is trying to look at the positive side of the situation. While it is not housing plants, the greenhouse will be cleaned and sterilized from dust and bugs. It is a chance for a fresh start.

“This is part of the process,” Mohamed said. “We have to learn from our mistakes so this doesn’t happen again.”