Playing frisbee, tossing a football, taking a nap or having a picnic are all activities common to the Parade Ground. But post-tailgate debris, including broken glass, has deterred students from one of their favorite University spots.
“I stepped on a broken beer bottle in flip-flops at the last home game, and it really hurt,” said William Lounsberry, biology sophomore. “They need to clean up right after the games so this doesn’t happen to any more people.”
Mike Hess, the grounds manager of Facility Services, and his cleanup crew are trying to prohibit glass on the Parade Ground, at least for game days. He said that they are all very concerned about the growing glass issue. Although they have not yet proposed this, Hess said it would definitely involve signs of warning around the Parade Ground.
“The Parade Grounds are really trashy after the games and sometimes during the week,” said Rebecca Plumlee, prenursing freshman. “I try not to walk through there if I can help it.” Hess said the Parade Ground is checked every morning for litter and after sporting events by various crews employed by the University. There may still be trash because students litter throughout the day, and it is usually not inspected again until the next morning. “We try to clean up on a regular basis and at least weekly from the games,” Hess said. “The biggest problem is the football crowd bringing glass and then leaving it around.” He said the crews use a machine called the Turf Sweeper about once a week to pick up glass, bottle caps and other litter. The machine can take almost an hour to comb through the grass. He also said although they don’t measure exactly the amount of trash they pick up after games, the amount in the Parade Ground usually weighs about a ton. “It’s a shame. The people say they love LSU so much and then trash the campus that way,” said Amy Moran, biology freshman. “It is pretty nasty after a game, and sometimes it is several days before anyone does anything about it. I go there to tailgate every home game, and it’s disgusting by the end of the night.” There are at least four garbage cans at the corners of the Parade Ground and usually more than 10 available on game days in that area. “It’s not that we don’t have enough trash cans. It’s that they are 20 feet away, and no one wants to walk that far. But we can only put them so close or they become litter themselves,” Hess said.
Facility Services has more than 100 employees and a relatively large group on call for areas like the Parade Ground, according to Judy Hopkins, a Facility Services administrator. There is a three- to four-man crew in charge of the area, along with about 30 inmates from all of the local prisons that assist them. “Most of the problems happen during football season, and we are doing what we can,” Hess said. “I want students to know that we take broken glass very seriously, and we are working right now to make sure that they can have a safe time on the Parade Ground.”
—-Contact Gina Zanutto at [email protected]