Photo: Bob Schneider

By Darren Rathwell

Local greenhouse glow reduced with blackout curtain project

Nov 3, 2021 | 5:37 PM

CYPRESS COUNTY, AB – The nights just southwest of Medicine Hat should be a shade or two darker after an area greenhouse took steps to dim its nighttime glow and reduce the area’s light pollution.

Over the past couple of months, Big Marble Farms has worked to install blackout curtains, along with a system to operate it that includes cables and motors.

“We’ve seen what the public has to say about (the greenhouse’s glow), and some of the media on it hasn’t been the most positive. We’ve heard from some of our most direct neighbours,” Big Marble’s CEO Ryan Cramer said.

The new blinds were put to use for the first time Tuesday night, in which canvas slides into place over several acres.

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Cramer says some of his neighbours actually like the greenhouse’s glow, which has grown as the operation has expanded recently. But he admits for those who don’t care for it, light from the greenhouse won’t be eliminated entirely.

“When we get warmer weather we need to let heat escape from the greenhouse, otherwise we run the risk of overheating the crops. When it’s cold out we will be able to close the curtain to 100 per cent, so what you’ll notice is on the colder nights there will be far less of a glow than when there is warmer weather,” Cramer explained.

The first phase of the project is now complete, with the second and final part slated to be finished by October 2022. It will see the remaining 15 of 55 acres of plants covered in the oldest part of the operation.

Cramer wouldn’t say how much the cost of the project is, but did admit to it being “significant.”