GA has many fields and facilities on its campus. These fields and facilities, from the football stadium to the Jordan Center, are important to GA sports teams. So the question arises: how are GA’s facilities and fields maintained in such good condition throughout the year?
Many people are involved in the upkeep of these fields and facilities. As the Director of Facilities, Mr. Dan Houston oversees all of the maintenance of the fields and facilities. The upkeep of these spaces falls under the grounds team and the building team.
The grounds teams, led by Mr. Scott Firman, the grounds superintendent, maintain the outdoor fields. They do all of the mowing and lining of the fields. They take care of the grass. And they also do repairs to the field.
Specifically, this fall, they did a lot of repairs to the baseball outfield. They had to remove the grass, add more dirt, relevel the field, and then put the dirt back on. Also, they did a lot of work on the drainage system on the baseball field.
Also, the grounds team maintains the artificial fields like the stadium or field 11. They have equipment called field groomers that clean the turf and kick up other materials.
The building team maintains all of the indoor facilities. They maintain the Jordan Center, the gyms, the field house, etc.
The different seasons also change the maintenance of the fields and facilities. In the fall, the grounds team focuses on maintaining the artificial turf fields for football, soccer, and field hockey.
During winter, the building team ensures the facilities are cleaned and in good working order. In the spring, the focus shifts back to the outdoor fields for baseball and softball.
Even though it is not their responsibility to maintain the fields, there are things that students can do to help. One of the things students can do is to keep the spaces clean.
“The biggest thing that students can do is to pick up after themselves,” Mr. Houston said. “That would go so far. If you brought something to practice or a game, you should be taking it back.”
To keep up with all of these facilities and fields requires a lot of hard work and effort from the building and grounds team.
“A lot of the work they do goes unseen,” Mr. Houston said. “It would be nice once in a while if students would give a shout-out and say thank you to the maintenance team for the work they do.”