The crew of Buildings and Grounds is responsible for the maintenance of more than 80 structures, 95 acres of sidewalks, more than 14 acres of roofing, more than six miles of underground conduit, and oh so many pipes, fixtures and systems. All of them need to be maintained.
On any given day, B&G gets between 10 and 20 work orders for jobs as small as hanging a picture to as big as keeping all of campus warm and cleared in a snowstorm. This spring they were asked to figure out a way to slowly unroll a 3-by-17-foot sign announcing the largest gift in school history — all in complete secrecy.
After practicing unrolling the banner with the garage door down in the power plant, Shane Andrews and Josh Blauser Sr. were prepared for everything except the rain that hit during the big announcement (see Campus living transformed story). When it did, they improvised, moving two 125-pound metal posts and the sign in a downpour. Just another day at the office.
– by Molly Vogel