Ithaca College's Office of Physical Plant is located down the hill and out of sight from the center of campus. You might not think much of the location, but heed these words of advice: don't confuse being out of sight with being out of touch.
It is the physical plant staff, after all, that keeps the College's buildings clean, heated, and repaired. They oversee new construction, plant flowers in summer, remove snow in winter, and painstakingly manicure 738 acres of grounds and athletic fields. The staff also maintains 118 College-owned vehicles and manages the campus recycling program. The duties are many, and as Fred Vanderburgh reminds us, the jobs just don't get done on their own.
Vanderburgh, superintendent for maintenance/grounds and assistant director of physical plant, heads the 58 members of the grounds, transportation, and maintenance staff. When he came to the College as superintendent of maintenance in 1987, he brought with him both 20 years' construction experience and the agricultural expertise he acquired by growing up on a farm. Over the years, he took on responsibility for the grounds as well, and this year he assumed the assistant directorship.
Although the proficiency of the physical plant staff can be seen everywhere on campus, among the most visible are the College's 12 athletic fields. Not just beautiful to the eye, the fields are also widely recognized for their professional-level condition. In 1991 Freeman Field received a national honor, the Beam Clay Field of the Year Award, and was written up in Sports Turf Magazine. "Grass is what you grow in your yard; turf is what we grow here at the College," Vanderburgh says.
Much more is involved in turf management than the occasional once-over with a lawn mower; fields must be scrupulously maintained year-round. The fields are periodically aerated to break up the soil and allow water and nutrients to penetrate. This promotes longer roots, which yield a turf that stands up better to athletes' cleats. Irrigation, fertilization (every four to six weeks), mowing (three or four times a week), and treatment against pests, weeds, and fungus are performed regularly. Through innovative methods, the fields are painted, and play can begin. Under the normal wear and tear of competition, all turf must be repaired constantly. Through experimentation, the staff has developed methods that can get grass growing back in four days, under favorable conditions. Even when the fields are covered with snow, the staff is busy rebuilding goals and fixing bleachers.
Although the College practices "integrated pest management," a system that uses mechanical practices such as mowing to help control pests, chemicals will always be needed to maintain healthy turf, Vanderburgh says. He stresses that the staff does everything possible to minimize the use of chemicals and follow the safest methods of application: "We're really conscious that what we do today not only affects us, it affects our grandchildren."
When talking about the department's achievements, Vanderburgh
praises the know-how, dedication, and teamwork of assistant superintendent
of grounds and transportation Roger Casterline and of all the
other staff members. He enjoys telling of the home softball game
last spring when Ithaca faced Bridgewater in the NCAA play-offs.
It was a rainy Sunday, and the field was flooded. Officials were
ready to cancel the game and hand Bridgewater, which was seeded
higher than Ithaca, the chance to play in the regional finals.
But one of the College's field coordinators vowed, 'If they're
going to lose this game, they're going to lose it playing.' The
staff proceeded to pump 750 gallons of water off the field, and
the game went on. "Because of our grounds folks Ithaca won
and earned a place in the finals," Vanderburgh said. "It's
just that care and concern. I don't know how you measure that."