The John C. Pair Horticulture Center. (courtesy of K-State Research and Extension)
The John C. Pair Horticulture Center. (courtesy of K-State Research and Extension)
After an effort from stakeholders — including a Change.org petition — a Kansas State University horticultural center that was previously announced to be shutting down due to budgetary concerns will remain open.
The John C. Pair Horticulture Center will continue to be a center for research and extension outreach in Haysville. Opened in 1970, the Pair Center facilitated research in woody ornamental crops as well as research into peaches, grapes and other forms of produce. Current research centers around trees, shrubs, flowers, turfgrass and bulbs.
After the announcement last June that the center will close, K-State administration says they received an influx of concerns from residents, gardening industry members and even political leaders.
“I received lots of letters from businesses, and I appreciate that,” Myers said in October. “And who can articulate our need for research and extension […] better than businesses that rely on research and extension?”
Jason Griffin, director of the Pair Center, was appreciative of KSU leadership’s response to the community’s reaction.
“We appreciate the administration for rethinking this decision,” said Jason Griffin, director of the Pair Center. “We have to give a big shout-out to local- and national-level industries that stepped up to voice their concern about the decision.”
Horticulture Agent Matthew McKernen says the outpour of concern and interest to save the Pair Center shows its importance “not just to our local gardeners and garden centers, but its’ impact on the horticulture industry across the United States.”
After receiving feedback from a multitude of stakeholders, President Myers and other administrators directed faculty to look into ways to make the center self-sustaining. They’re looking at ways to secure an additional $230,000 in revenue, though the center’s annual revenue currently is $30,000. A task force was formed to improve operational efficiency as well as to broaden the scope of research at the center.
“We needed to come up with a feasible, entrepreneurial plan that would allow the center to keep its doors open and continue research in order to address the needs of the future,” said Cheryl Boyer, K-State associate professor and extension specialist for nursery crops. “Now we need time to move forward on these plans and complete the tasks that we have laid out for ourselves.”
Coming out of the task force was a proposition to make the Pair Center Kansas’ primary site for industrial hemp research. The new research initiative could result in grant funding, though with stringent conditions.
And though things have progressed well for advocates for the Pair Center, Boyer says it’s not time to celebrate just yet.
“We’ve been given a Band-Aid for the short term,” Boyer said. “But we still need to arrive at solutions for the medium- and long term.”
