School For Deaf To Build Greenhouse Site In West Hartford

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A locally-based school for children who are hard of hearing is asking the town for a special permit to build a greenhouse on its North Main Street campus.

The American School for the Deaf, which operates as 139 N. Main St., is looking to build a new, 12-foot-by-25-foot greenhouse for horticultural education programs at the school.

Last month, the West Hartford Plan & Zoning Commission voted to have a public hearing on the proposal for Wednesday, Sept. 7, at 7:15 p.m. at West Hartford Town Hall.

After the hearing is closed, the PZC could vote on the proposal as soon as that night.

ASD officials said they're lookign to take the school's horticulture lessons beyond growing seeds on window sills.

"Gardens remind us that the best things in life do not happen instantly but take time to grow with nurture and care," wrote the ASD to the PZC. "ASD has been building the Horticulture Program in incremental steps over the past several years."

A greenhouse, they said, would help grow the program as students can better grow all sorts of plants.

"The horticulture program is now perfectly poised to grow and a greenhouse classroom will allow the program to flourish year round," wrote the ASD.

To help pay for the project, the ASD is seeking a $20,000 grant from the New Hampshire-based Dorr Foundation.

To view the American School for the Deaf's full proposal, click on this link.

To view the greenhouse project's plans, click on this link.