For incoming freshmen, returning and transfer students: The University of Memphis will look its best on Aug. 25, 2003--just for you.
What many students may not know is how much work is put into making The University look the way you imagined when you first thought about going to school here.
"This summer we took out asbestos on the 3rd and 4th floors of Mitchell Hall," said Drew Schmitz, communications specialist for the physical plant. "That will continue, probably next summer, when we will remove the asbestos on the 1st and 2nd floors and be done with that building completely."
The physical plant staff spends most of the summer making repairs and improvements across campus.
That work included installing new entry doors in Johnson Hall, resurfacing the track behind the Elma Neal Roane Field House, repairing some of the concrete around the track and retiling and surfacing floors inside buildings across campus.
"The turf room in the Athletic Training Center that caught fire last year is set to be finished at the end of August," Schmitz said.
Another project continuing on campus is the construction of the FedEx Institute of Technology. Although it will not be finished by the beginning of the fall semester, Schmitz said it was "coming along."
Landscaping plans on campus are another matter. The storm that damaged so much of Memphis also hit The University hard as well.
Calvin Strong, the director of custodial and landscaping services, said most efforts have been put into cleaning up.
"Recently in landscaping we've been responding to the storm," Strong said. "We have been working to get the limbs cut up and moved to the Meeman biological research site, where they will be used to make a habitat for small animals."
Strong also said the storm damaged 10 to 15 percent of the trees around campus, with about 5 percent significantly damaged.
While the storm has put a kink in some plans, the physical plant has had their hands full cleaning and repairing.
"We will do all of that," Strong said. "We will be cleaning and recoating the floors as much as we can before school starts."
