WORTHINGTON -- After more than a year of moving offices, classrooms and the bookstore, the maintenance staff of Minnesota West Community and Technical College, Worthington campus were presented with the 2005 Excellence in Facilities Management award from Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU).
"Imagine for a moment you were faced with the loss of 52,000 square feet at your facility for 14 months," Director of Facilities Jeff Harms wrote on the nomination form. "That was the scene at the Worthington campus in the spring of 2004 as we made room for a total building renovation project for this 40-year-old structure."
Harms went on to spell out the chaos and hardship the maintenance staff dealt with during the renovation project, explaining how offices were created out of closets and storage spaces.
"Typical downtime for each office move was 15 to 20 minutes," he wrote.
During the project, the maintenance staff battled dust, mud and grime, keeping the campus up and running throughout the school year.
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"To the men in blue, this is your day to be honored," Marnie Fischer, campus CEO, said Wednesday during an award ceremony at the Worthington campus.
President Ron Wood commended the maintenance staff for keeping their sense of humor during the construction period.
"They dealt with the crankiness of the faculty and staff as well," Wood added. "They listened to us complain about being too cold, too dirty. Everybody had such a good sense of humor during the year."
The award was accepted by Building Maintenance Foreman Gordy Heitkamp, who credited Building Engineer Randy Grimmius for the excellent job during construction.
"I wasn't here throughout the whole process," Heitkamp said. "Randy was directly involved with a lot of what went on."
Grimmius' team consists of Darwin Johansen, Brian Johnson, Dean Hebig, Rick Morrison and Victor Flora.
Vice President of Instruction Jeff Williamson said he appreciated the work of the staff as well.
"These are six guys that make our lives better," he said.
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"Maintenance guys are great," College Provost Diane Graber said. "You ask them to do such weird things."
Graber commended the staff for their high morale during the project.
"I appreciate their ability to have good morale," she added.
