Tedious chores, such as mowing the backyard, might not be so bad after all.
This is especially true when compared to the maintenance of Bicentennial Park's earthwork installation, Input
by renowned artist Maya Lin is 3.5 acres of 21 large rectangles, some of which are raised 16 inches, and others that are depressed 16 inches.
But Mark Whitney, Ohio University's director of grounds, said the maintenance and upkeep of the park is not complicated.
We are landscape professionals he said. Everything we do there is within our daily scope of activities.
The raised and depressed portions of the earthwork, commonly known as Punchcard Park, are referred to as computer chips because Lin designed the piece to resemble computer punch cards used in OU's early computer programming courses.
A two-person crew uses two different kinds of lawn mowers to maintain the park. The computer chips must be trimmed with a push mower that can be lifted onto the raised portions and lowered into the sunken portions. After mowing, the concrete bases of the rectangles are string-trimmed, or weed-whacked, Whitney said.
The whole process, including routine weed control and fertilization, takes about six hours. The park is mowed about once a week, but it varies as the seasons change, he said.
Before the earthwork was installed it took about half the time to maintain.
It takes more time to maintain the park than it did to maintain a wide open lawn area because we have all those features Whitney said. However
if you compare that to a heavily landscaped area
it could be about the same.
President Roderick McDavis said he thinks anything that beautifies the campus has a positive impact on students.
The aesthetics of the university help students
faculty
staff and administrators to feel good about themselves and the university
he said. So I am a proponent of having a beautiful campus
and Bicentennial Park adds to that beauty in my estimation.
In the interest of preserving the turf, the piece came with its own irrigation system. A drainage system was also installed with the earthwork because of the soil's condition, said Pam Callahan, the architect in charge of the project.
She said the park is prepared for the heavy rains that often hit Athens.
It withstood beautifully
Callahan said. We have heavy rains
and it drains very well.
Though no lights are in the park itself, there is lighting provided on the sidewalks adjacent to the park.
I really think
