Snow Causes Greenhouse To Collapse At Erickson’s In Brainerd

While a lot of Minnesotans are excited about the heavy snowfall the area has seen in recent weeks, it has caused a lot of problems for the owners of one local greenhouse.

On New Year’s Eve, an employee at Erickson’s Greenhouse in Brainerd got to work and discovered that the roof of one of the greenhouses had collapsed. The greenhouses are designed to prevent collapses from snowfall, but the amount of snow that accumulated in such a short amount of time was too much for the system to deal with.

“It’s just winter happening, a little bit too much too fast. Usually we get in and keep the snow off and that type of thing, but it just came so fast that we were so busy removing it all everywhere that pretty soon it just caught up,” said Mike Barthel, Erickson’s Greenhouse Owner. “And then we got that extra five, six inches, and that was all she wrote.”

The owners estimate that there is at least $10,000 worth of structural damage. Luckily, the only plants located inside the collapsed greenhouse were leftover Christmas trees. Parts of the greenhouse were brand new, including the collapsed plastic roofing, and unfortunately, they do not expect insurance to cover the damages.

“It just got too much too fast and it wasn’t coming through the holes that we put up for it, and it cracked a couple beams and this got all bent. The wall that we remodeled cracked some beams, too. Most of was freshly done,” added owner Amanda Stone. “But it’s just something that unfortunately happens when you get too much snow.”

The owners plan to have the greenhouse repaired and up and running in time for their spring plant around March 1.