Amish Assist in Deconstruction Project

A few miles from downtown Cleveland, an Amish work crew is assembling each weekday to deconstruct several greenhouses for potential re-assembly in an adjacent county.

The Amish workers arrive from rural Geauga County, Ohio, some 25 miles from Cleveland, to disassemble several steel and glass greenhouses in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, an older suburb adjacent to Cleveland.

The crew is dismantling greenhouses belonging to W.G. Ellacott Sons Inc., a former grower of geraniums and other flowers that closed its doors permanently this fall. According to a report in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, more than 100 tons of glass and 150 tons of steel are contained in the greenhouses, which cover 1-1/2 acres of land.

The decision to dismantle was made by David Ellacott, who told the newspaper he could not bear to see the vestiges of the 98-year-old family business torn down and hauled away as rubble.

“I didn’t want to see these filling up dumpsters,” Ellacott told The Plain Dealer. “This is more than 40 years of my life. I helped build these greenhouses; and I know where every nail and every screw is. The fact they’ll be recycled . . . well, I don’t feel like this has all been wasted.”

According to the report, much of the glass and steel is being purchased by E.M. Produce Supply, a produce farming company based in Geauga County. The owner of that company has plans to re-use many of the materials, and has vowed to find other end users who may wish to expand their greenhouse space.

The greenhouses being deconstructed were built in the 1960s, at a time when Warrensville Heights was still home to several flower-growing greenhouse companies.