MGNA partners with City of Madison for greenhouse addition to new community center

MADISON – Master Gardeners of North Alabama is partnering with the City of Madison to construct and maintain a greenhouse at the Madison Community Center.

At last week’s Madison City Council meeting, the city council approved a contract with MGNA for the non-profit to pay for the construction of a greenhouse on land adjacent to the community center building. The greenhouse is to be 24 feet by 60 feet in size. MGNA will also have use of a storage shed on community center grounds.

The volunteer-led non-profit will be responsible for maintaining the greenhouse and using it for “activities that provide public benefit” such as, as a community garden, gardening classes, and workshops.

For its part, the city is agreeing to construct a sidewalk that will allow visitors to access the greenhouse from the community center and pay for utilities at the greenhouse.

“They were looking for a home for their greenhouse. I believe they were in Huntsville. We acquired the Community Center property and found them space over there,” explained Director of Madison Parks and Recreation Kory Alfred to the city council. “In exchange, they’re going to manage our community garden that we’re about to establish and do some classes.”

MGNA currently holds many of its workshops and classes for the Madison community at the Madison Public Library. MGNA’s offerings center around educating North Alabamians on gardening and lawn care best practices with the local climate, ecosystem, and native plants in mind. They currently have greenhouses and gardens at Morris Elementary School in Huntsville and Huntsville Botanical Garden.