A heritage building in Brandon is getting a second life thanks to new indoor farming technology. The McKenzie Seeds building in Brandon was built in 1910 and has been a provincially-designated historical site since the nineties. Now, a company called Brandon Fresh Farms is using new technology to convert the 113-year-old building into an indoor vertical farm.
"It's a very exciting opportunity to innovate and renovate a historic building in downtown Brandon," said Gerald Cathcart, Director of Economic Development for the City of Brandon. "It's also an excellent opportunity to bring in sustainable food production to our city."
Brandon Fresh Farms president Adam Morand said the farm will also bring new jobs to Brandon. "Once we're fully operational with the facility at McKenzie Seeds building, we'll be doing about 20 to 30 full-time jobs, and probably 50 to 70 part-time jobs to fill in the shifts," said Morand.
Morand is excited to begin work on converting the historic complex. "It is a phenomenal building, or set of buildings, with excellent bones, as we would put it," he said.
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