A week after spring break, birds are singing, students are enjoying warmer weather and the staff of MU Campus Facilities is working to spruce up campus for the season.
This week marks the beginning of Campus Facilities’ annual spring cleaning. The MU campus spans across 1,252 acres and contains 350 university buildings. More than 650 people work for Campus Facilities, making it the largest service unit on campus, Campus Facilities Communication Manager Karlan Seville said. Campus Facilities provides services including general maintenance, energy control, custodianship and construction.
Landscape Services, a division of Campus Facilities, ensures flowerbeds are cleaned out, new vegetation is planted, mulch is deposited, lawns are fertilized and Francis and Carnahan Quads are aerated.
“We’re focusing a lot of time and energy into getting the campus into top shape for commencement,” Seville said.
Campus Facilities tries harder to maintain certain parts of campus such as Francis and Carnahan Quadrangles during events such as graduation and Homecoming, Seville said.
Graduation ceremonies begin May 17, giving Campus Facilities about seven weeks to transform campus into its ideal condition after the winter.
“We want the graduates to be proud of their campus,” Seville said. “Graduation is a big deal for us because it’s a special time in a student’s life.”
Spring and summer planning began during the winter, while Landscaping Services was responsible for most of the snow removal on campus. Seville said they were particularly busy with post-storm efforts this winter.
“We maintain our campus year-round,” Seville said. “We work our way through the whole campus and then we start all over again. It’s kind of like painting the Golden Gate Bridge.”
Campus Facilities focuses on annual plants which must be replanted every year, such as pansies. They also maintain perennial plants, plants including hostas, elephant ears and trees that can last more than one year.
The university purchases flora from a variety of vendors and suppliers, some of which are local. More than 20,000 annual and perennial plants can be found throughout campus.
“We do the best we can,” Seville said.
People who visit campus can give feedback to Campus Facilities through letters, phone calls and in person.
“The hard work pays off because we get a lot of compliments on our campus,” Seville said.
Various yearlong construction projects will be wrapping up this summer and fall. Renovations of Gwynn Hall, located near Memorial Union, will be finished later this year. The building will soon include a research lab, more classroom space and a metabolic kitchen for the Human Environmental Sciences College. Virginia Avenue and Hitt Street parking garages will be restriped and parking facility RP10 will be replaced with asphalt.
“We have an aging campus,” Seville said. “We try to bring buildings up to code and also benefit the academic mission.”
