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Printer-Friendly ModeGrounds crew continues campus upkeep
July 19, 2005 —
For Bob Lopez, sometimes it seems like the only thing that grows faster than the University is the grass. And for two decades, he's been dealing with both.
Lopez has been the Campus Facilities grounds foreman for the last 18 years and has watched SVSU go from a tiny college with three buildings to what he now calls "its own little empire." These days, he can be found in the grounds building at the east end of A-Lot, coordinating the work assignments that help keep the "empire's" exterior looking first-rate.
"We're trying to keep up," Lopez says. "We're just trying to keep up."
Keeping up is about all Lopez and his staff of 21 can hope to do. He estimates that his crew maintains "at least a couple hundred acres," which means they are in charge of an area the size of 200 football fields. And more difficult yet, when the grass has been mowed, the trash picked up, the ponds cleaned and the trees trimmed, Lopez's crew just has to do it all over again.
"We do more than just cut grass," Lopez says, listing off a string of responsibilities that range from setting up for University functions to moving furniture. "We do it all."
Lopez's attention turns from a group that can do it all to a task they all have to do: trash pickup. By 7 a.m., most of his entire staff is out picking up the garbage that accumulates in the parking lots and on the sidewalks. The task is necessary, and yet one which Lopez wishes was not.
"You would not believe how people think of our University as, 'this is where we empty our car out before we go home,'" he says. "We probably haul out, on average, nine to ten bags of garbage a day."
It is not just the individuals who treat the parking lots like garbage cans that disappoint Lopez. He is also angered by those who feel the campus is their own personal ashtray, choosing to flick their cigarette butts onto the sidewalk or into the grass rather than utilize the special containers right outside the buildings.
While responsibilities like trash pickup are expected and planned for, there are many things that come on unexpectedly that take up time and money. The storm that came through the area on June 5 forced Lopez to designate a portion of his staff to trimming trees and picking up fallen limbs. It took three days before the campus was completely cleaned. Meanwhile, Lopez has been forced to send out trucks to free mowers that have become stuck in the rain-soaked ground. While all of this is going on, Lopez points out a wall of empty mail slots. He says that a few days prior, the slots had been stuffed with requests to move furniture on campus.
The several ponds on campus are also Campus Facilities' responsibility. While most have noticed them scattered throughout the University, few are aware that they serve a purpose other than just beautification. Run-off parking lot water drains into the ponds, where it is treated with a special chemical dye. While safe for the fish and people, the dye staves off algae and weeds by helping block the sun so they don't grow. Once all of this has been taken care of, the water is pumped right back out and used for watering the athletic fields and much of the interior campus. And while this self-sustaining irrigation system is good for keeping the campus looking nice, it takes the crew right back to their trouble area: the grass.
Athletic fields and the interior campus are not only watered but fertilized as well. This helps speed up a growing process that Lopez says probably doesn't need the help.
"The grass is going to grow twice as fast [in the interior campus] as what it would on the outskirts of campus," he says.
Despite all of the challenges facing Campus Facilities, Lopez reports that their hard work is paying off.
"We get a lot of feedback about the cleanliness and how things have grown," he says. "Our campus exceeds a lot of colleges and universities in terms of cleanliness and the way things are kept on campus."
Lopez mentions Ohio State, Indiana and Ferris State as just some of theses campuses. And while Lopez insists they are all nice universities, he believes SVSU exceeds those schools in terms of grounds, proving perhaps once and for all that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.