\n green<\/a>: cucumbers, lettuce, herbs and even flowers. <\/p>\n
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In the former Galleria at Erieview mall, a project called Gardens Under Glass<\/a> is taking root, part of a grand plan to transform malls into greenhouses. It’s just one of many Cleveland-based projects, suggesting that this rust belt city might have a few sustainabilty tricks to teach urban centers everywhere.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Vicky Poole, who heads up marketing for the Galleria, conceived this project after looking at a photograph of plants growing in a cafe window. Hmmm, she thought, imagining a <\/p>\n Poole and her partner-in-green Jack Hamilton (who manages Artist <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In February, spinach, tomatoes, and strawberries were started in a composted <\/p>\n Poole’s vision for the mall is both a master marketing tool—this one, like so many of its mid-80s brethren, was in dire straights not long ago, with dozens of vacancies in its 200 stores—and an inventive way to promote sustainability in what has proven to be a largely unsustainable architectural dinosaur. It’s pretty hard to find alternate uses for 100,000-plus square feet of mostly windowless space. “I don’t look at us as a mall anymore,” she says. “We really serve the downtown business community.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Already, the farmers market is growing in popularity. The grander plan calls for the entire mall to become a retail ecovillage: vegetarian restaurants, health food stores, garden supply outlets, more farmers’ stalls and shops selling recycled goods. There are other ecovillages<\/a> in Cleveland and a whole slew of green initiatives that we detailed<\/a> in 2008.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What’s great about this mall project, though, is that it comes from the private sector, from one woman with a big idea and a big enough space to realize it. “I hope it’ll bring this building back,” she says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the meantime, malls are struggling to find new uses<\/a>. Perhaps dead malls will become centers of local live produce?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n Garden Girl TV: Healthy soil equals healthy plants and people<\/a><\/p>\n Colbert grows a ‘crisis herb garden’<\/a><\/p>\n
\nretooled version of the food court. The mall was already scrambling to find innovative uses for itself in a flagging economy, primarily as a wedding hall, but also as a farmers market. A greenhouse, she discovered, could thrive in the building’s climate controlled environment under the tremendous glassed-in atrium that runs like a spine down its emtpy center.<\/p>\n
\n Review Today magazine and gallery, located in the Galleria) won a $30,000 grant to set up the greenhouse project. The money came from Cleveland’s Civic Innovation Lab<\/a>, which funds ideas for growing the local economy (other projects<\/a> include a recycled glassware company and a renewable energy group).<\/p>\n
\nsoil system produced by a local company. This week, a hydroponic system was delivered that will exponentially increase output. They also added artificial light to supplement the daylight streaming through the glass ceiling.<\/p>\n