Excitement reigns in the stillness of a Friday afternoon as Facility Services sets up fencing and places recycling bins around the University campus. Students finishing their last classes of the week walk past workers posting signs for tailgaters, yet preparing for an LSU home football game is much more than meets the eye.
Paul Favaloro, Facility Services director of services and resources, said planning for football game days starts months in advance, sometimes as early as January.
Facility Services gets together with the LSU Athletics Department to discuss lessons learned, improvements for next season and ways to further the game day experience for tailgaters, Favaloro said.
In early June, Facility Services begins work with the Athletics Department to make sure stadium electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems operate correctly in order to accommodate more than 92,000 fans, Favaloro said.
He said after double checking the contracts with waste removal, fencing, portable toilets and laborer services, workers review the eight buildings that provide restrooms on game day and make sure the campus grounds are mowed, trimmed and cleaned.
“[We make] sure the campus is looking good for our guests,” Favaloro said.
Facility Services places 4,000 trash cans and 3,000 recycle bins throughout campus on Friday evenings and checks the stadium systems once more, he said.
Mike St. Romain, Facility Services outdoor utilities and pumps manager, said at 8 a.m. on game day, workers make their rounds in the stadium, securing each restroom, concession stand and first aid station, and electricians check the air conditioners. He said this process usually lasts until 1 p.m.
“We try to freeze everything out,” St. Romain said. “[We] make sure everybody’s good and cold.”
LSU Police Department Captain Cory Lalonde said several hundred officers from various security and alcohol agencies are stationed around campus to control the 115,000 to 125,000 people tailgating and walking around.
Once the game begins, St. Romain said one person watches over each fire alarm for the entire game on the east and west sides of the stadium. He said plumbers stand by to handle any problems in the restrooms, noting an average of 25 clogged toilets throughout the stadium on any given game day.
Patrick Wilkerson, general manager of Bengals and Bandits, said game days yield a lot of business from both LSU fans and fans from opposing teams. Wilkerson said on Saturdays, the store often gets packed, sometimes having 70 to 90 people inside.
He compared game day sales for his store to Black Friday sales for other stores.
“Those weekends are where we do a large portion of our business,” he said.
Caitlin Lawless, assistant manager of Reginelli’s, said game day “amplifies” the amount of food the restaurant cooks, including baking at least 200 pizzas and multiple loaves of bread. Lawless said the restaurant packs in about 200 people, and customers are willing to sacrifice comfort to squeeze into the restaurant on game day.
“This whole entire place is packed constantly,” she said.
After the tailgaters have loaded up their tents and post-game parties have ended, the work for Facility Services remains far from finished.
Favaloro said 150 workers start cleaning campus at 4 a.m. the following morning, gathering an average of 50 to 80 tons of debris.
“Our tailgaters have a lot of fun, and they leave the remnants of that behind,” he said.
Though it does take more resources to try to pick up the tremendous amount of trash, Favaloro said the amount has decreased in recent years.
Workers picked up an average of 76 tons of trash after each game of the 2007 season, but last season, workers only gathered 57 tons of trash, he said.
Favaloro said 10 to 20 percent of the debris that is hauled off is recycled.
