Building Service Workers BSWs transformation

Adapting Building Services: New Custodial Operations

F&S Building Service Workers (BSWs) began rolling out a new cleaning program this summer. So, when each employee received certificates honoring workshop completion, pomp and circumstance played for all. Much deserved! F&S partnered with the Cleaning Management Institute, the education division of the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA). Approximately 40 BSWs from all three working shifts are enacting the program, which is being piloted in … Continue reading Adapting Building Services: New Custodial Operations

The Fighting Illini football team take care of business on homecoming, defeating Minnesota 26-14 to move to 6-1 on the season and into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten West. The Illini lead the country in total defense, touchdowns allowed, interceptions, and opponent passer rating.

For the Fans!

A couple pipefitters and plumbing projects improved facilities that host the highest level of intercollegiate athletic competition. Memorial Stadium and Huff Hall are among the most well-known sporting homes in the state. Both promote a positive fan experience for the coming seasons and well into the future. At the home of the Fighting Illini football program, nearing its 100th birthday, on the east side: the … Continue reading For the Fans!

Forbes Natural History Building

Prizing Performance (with 🍕pizza🍕)

Good behavior nets pizza, especially for administrators and building liaisons at six Grainger College of Engineering buildings. So when this multi-year energy avoidance project, completed through Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) team at F&S, came to an end, already showing $2.9M in cost avoidance, a few folks celebrated, alongside Associate Vice Chancellor and Executive Director Ehab Kamarah, and Utilities & Energy Services Director Rob Roman. Sylvia … Continue reading Prizing Performance (with 🍕pizza🍕)

Urbana Fire Department firefighters train at the Archives and Special Collections Building

Library Hosts Firefighter Safety Training

The former “Undergraduate Library,” now called the Archives and Special Collections building, has been undergoing demolition and full-scale renovations for months, as it prepares to transition from a study and learning space to a storage facility for certain types of books and other documents. F&S Capital Programs project managers Jon Hasselbring and Sandra Roesler have helped lead the demolition and construction. Two floors had been … Continue reading Library Hosts Firefighter Safety Training

Altgeld stone cleaning

Altgeld Glow Up: Generations of Dirt Cleaned From Eons-old Stone

When you’re as old as Altgeld Hall, you deserve a nice cleansing scrub. The stony skin of the building dates to as far back as 1896, after all, and a lot of history, and other gunk, has built up on the stone. Even a U of I student’s thesis from more than 50 years ago notes the coloration change. Roughly hewn, randomly placed hard pink … Continue reading Altgeld Glow Up: Generations of Dirt Cleaned From Eons-old Stone

Arbor Day 2023 tree campus USA flag

Arbor Day 2023 on the Main Quad

The national holiday Arbor Day was April 28, 2023; locally, it was easily seen on the University of Illinois Main Quad that day. To celebrate, F&S helped plant and honor a new horizon elm tree just west of Davenport Hall. Campus tree and sustainability experts spoke, including Brent Lewis, university landscape architect, and Morgan White, associate director of sustainability; Mike DeLorenzo, Vice Chancellor for Administration … Continue reading Arbor Day 2023 on the Main Quad

Ironworkers and Operator Engineers installing safer bridge over the Boneyard Creek.

Making It Safe: A New Green Boneyard Bridge

Ironworkers make things safer. In the end, their repairs to a bridge over the Boneyard Creek will last decades and allow safe passage between student housing and buildings on the Grainger College of Engineering Quad. The now-bright green bridge is just north of the Astronomy Building. The culprit causing damage was rust, which disintegrated parts of the bridge bottom. F&S ironworkers Mike Paris and Rene … Continue reading Making It Safe: A New Green Boneyard Bridge

Mike Larson, F&S Abbott Power Plant, gives a tour to local girl scouts

Girl Power: Education at Abbott

Local girl scouts came on a Saturday morning to learn about the utility systems operated at Abbott Power Plant. Associate professor in Civil and Electrical Engineering (CEE) in the Grainger College of Engineering, Ashlynn Stillwell helped organize and manage the groups and distributed safety and personal protective equipment (PPE). Stillwell is also the former Central Illinois Girl Scout leader. Kids toured the power plant with … Continue reading Girl Power: Education at Abbott

1901 photo of Davenport Hall.

Two Acres at the Root of University History

Story by Dave Evensen, LASHistoric photo courtesy of the University of Illinois Archives Originally called the Agriculture Building, Davenport Hall helped define the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (LAS) and the layout of campus itself. Burrill Inspires Davenport: “This is Illinois…” There are walks in the park and then there are walks that affect the course of university history for the next 128 years, … Continue reading Two Acres at the Root of University History