A greenhouse rises from beneath the snow

In 2014, a kind of tragedy struck at Sisters Middle School when the newly refurbished greenhouse was crushed under a snowstorm.

David Hiller of the Sisters Science Club - who had spent time, energy and money restoring the 2002 structure originally built by the Forest Service - worked with the Sisters School District personnel to discuss rebuilding. Those discussions led to a new greenhouse in a new location.

"After discussion with District staff we determined it wasn't feasible to have high school students trek to the middle school to use a greenhouse," Hiller said.

So together, they came up with a new plan: A greenhouse behind Sisters High School. In the spring of 2016 volunteers from the community and the Sisters Science Club graded the area and installed electrical cable and water lines, and then began working on the new greenhouse. Hiller, a retired Merchant Marine with quite the background in engineering and architecture of large ships, developed the plans, designed, and helped build the facility.

By November 2016 the 30-by-50-foot structure was complete. The brand-new building was set to have a ribbon-cutting after Thanksgiving in 2016, then... the snow hit. And it kept on coming.

While many greenhouses and outbuildings around Sisters collapsed under the weight of the snow over the past winter, the new greenhouse made it through unscathed.

"We have a frame every three feet," said Hiller. "The same roof strength of the high school."

The facility is state-of-the-art, made of 8mm poly acrylic material and designed to avoid hot spots throughout the space. The greenhouse is complete with radiant floor heating, drip irrigation, aeroponics, and hydroponics test areas. The in-floor heating system has water heated from the bio-fuel plant that heats the school.

The volunteer hours into the completed structure number in the thousands.

"This was a full-time job for a few volunteers," said Audrey Tehan, sustainable agriculture instructor at Sisters High School. "The science club members and the school really put an incredible effort into getting this facility up and running. It took a lot of collaboration and a lot of planning and re-planning."

Guests at the Sisters Science Fair on March 18 got a sneak peak at the new greenhouse.

The sustainable agriculture class has begun using the facility - dubbed "The Hiller" - this spring. Students have begun planting a variety of experimental plants for the Central Oregon climate.

"We are trying to grow cold-hardy guava, citrus, grapes, figs, and a lot of plants," said Tehan.

The hydroponic pots are ready to be planted and the aeroponic tower, where plants are grown vertically with no soil - just watered from a mister with a nutrient solution, is already up and running.

Students recently started a native plant nursery with iris, arrow leaf balsam root, rye grass, globe mallow and more.

"The space is filling up quickly with ideas, enthusiasm and just astonishment for the facility," says Tehan.

"This was a project in the making over the past four years after the collapse of the initial greenhouse," she said. "It is an amazing facility. One of the most high-tech greenhouses in the state located on school property."

"The Hiller" will be commissioned on April 14. The public is invited to attend.