Summer 2018 Construction Update

Little twitches help make a more beautiful campus

Asaka Shimizu
Staff Writer

What kind of construction projects were going on during summer vacation on campus?

Summer vacation- a very long holiday for college students, most of who go back home or go different places for vacation. During this summer vacation, many construction projects have happened while the students were gone from the university.

 

The cross road right in front of residence community Preska, classrooms all over the campus, Ted Paul theater, the Otto Recreation center, the new sculpture in front of the Clinical science building and so much more were part of the summer construction.

In order to introduce one of construction projects, I interviewed one of the building maintenance department employees who is painter, Paul Sherwood. He is responsible for the buildings which includes athletic and academic buildings.

 

He has been working for this Minnesota State University, Mankato since 2015. According to him, he is from Mankato and his father used to be a painter at MNSU some years ago.

 

During this summer holiday, he and his painters painted a children’s playhouse, in front of the Career Development Center, inside and outside of the Otto Recreation center, the roof of Myers Fieldhouse, Blakeslee stadium, the ball landmarks in front of Trafton Science center, Morris hall, Armstrong hall and many more places. When it comes to the roof of Myers field, he painted MSU’s signature color, which is purple, and used more than five gallon of paint buckets. It took him around 12 hours and when I saw the work, I could see how hard it was.

 

In the Jane Earley Center for Performing Arts, he and his crew painted a black room and a purple room. The black room has many musical instruments and it seemed that some music group might use it.

I do not know how many people would realize the small details of paint or the small differences, however, these people who work as painters or contractors put a lot of effort in order to maintain this campus and keep it beautiful.

In addition, when I interviewed Sherwood I could see how much he cares about this campus and how much he is trying to change MSU and make it more beautiful. I hope students notice the difference when we are all back on campus for classes.