The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has recently been fielding questions about the Liberty Hyde Bailey Conservatory Greenhouse. Below are answers to frequently asked questions about the structure and its future.

What is the Liberty Hyde Bailey Conservatory Greenhouse?
The Liberty Hyde Bailey Conservatory Greenhouse (henceforth Conservatory) is the large greenhouse that faces Tower Road and is attached to the Plant Science Building. It is flanked by Minns Garden on one side and a row of newer greenhouses—the Purple Greenhouses—on the other side. Constructed in 1931 as a “glass house laboratory” for students of horticulture and to house and display a collection of palms begun by Liberty Hyde Bailey, the founder of the College of Agriculture and a prominent palm taxonomist, the Conservatory was manufactured by greenhouse designer Lord & Burnham Company.

Its present Palm Collection represents the palm research begun by Bailey in the 1920s, when his research interests began to focus on palms, and later by Harold E. Moore, who joined Bailey at Cornell in 1948. Bailey and Moore’s palm research was continued by Prof. Natalie Uhl, culminating in 1987 with the publishing of the comprehensive Genera Palmarum.

What is its function today?
The Conservatory serves two complementary educational functions. The primary function is to provide teaching materials for various biology courses; the greenhouse’s plant collections are used by six CALS departments to teach sixteen different classes. The secondary function is educational outreach and public engagement.

Is it a historical landmark?
Although the Conservatory was constructed by a famous greenhouse design firm, Lord & Burnham Company, and many Cornellians have strong emotions about this greenhouse, the Conservatory is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places and it is not considered to be an architecturally unique structure. However, the college is voluntarily engaging with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) regarding the future of the greenhouse.

Why are plants currently being removed from the Conservatory?
The Conservatory is in an advanced state of deterioration and poses unacceptable health and safety risks to students, faculty, staff and the public. Hazards include: Panes of glass falling both internally and externally, asbestos and PCB-laden glass glazing, metal corrosion, rotting wood and end-of-life mechanical and electrical systems.

After being presented with several risk mitigation options, which all proved impractical, the college decided last month (Oct. 15), based on advice from Environmental Health and Safety, to close the Conservatory. The college has found temporary homes for the plant collection.

Weren’t there plans for a historical renovation of the Conservatory?
In 2008, the college set forth to restore the Conservatory Greenhouse. An architectural firm specializing in preservation and restoration and specialists in greenhouse and conservatory preservation were retained, funds were set aside and bids requested. The bids received were dramatically higher than the college’s original estimate of $1 million or even the consultants’ revised estimate of $1.8 million, coming in at around $2.3 million—or more than $600.00 per square foot. (A typical commercial conservatory greenhouse in Upstate NY costs considerably less.)

As there is a critical need to renovate or replace 65% of all the greenhouses in CALS, the renovation of the Conservatory must be considered in the context of all the greenhouse related needs in CALS. The cost of renovating the Conservatory is considerably more than erecting a modern conservatory greenhouse of the same size. Furthermore, a modern greenhouse will be more energy efficient and more effective as a conservatory. Based on costs and sustainability considerations, current plans are to not renovate the Conservatory but to provide this function via a new greenhouse or by modifying and updating an existing structure.

So will the college be demolishing the Conservatory?
No firm timeline has been established for physical work on the structure. The college is voluntarily working with SHPO to explore all options. However, at this time, the most likely outcome is that the conservatory will be demolished. Even without the added complication and expense of asbestos and PCB abatement, there are still two strong arguments against restoration of the current structure: 1) at only 3,730 square feet, the Conservatory does not meet the dimensional needs of a modern conservatory function, and 2) the Conservatory would still only contain single-paned glass, making it energy inefficient and unsustainable.

Will there be a conservatory in the future?
There will be a plant conservatory and there will be continued support for the educational mission of the conservatory.  The invaluable and unique plant collection will be maintained. What physical form a new Conservatory will take has not yet been decided: It may be an entirely new facility or another greenhouse may be retrofitted, but the college is mindful that the replacement needs to be sustainable. Faculty are  involved in the discussion and estimates are being obtained. The $1.8 million originally set aside for the project is still available, but rebuilding the conservatory on its current site may not be the best option or the best use of funds given the overall need to renew CALS greenhouses.