Recent statewide budget cuts have eliminated a little more green from the UA campus.
Starting Friday, Feb. 13, all 14 fountains on the UA campus were shut off, said Chris Kopach, associate director of Facilities Management.
In an effort to save money, the UA has also decided not to replant flowers around campus, said Al Tarcola, director of facilities management. Dead flowers will be removed, but not replanted.
Most fountains previously ran from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week, Tarcola said. The changes will hopefully save the university a noticeable amount of money, and allow it to put funding towards other, more glaring needs.
The flowers around the Berger Memorial fountain in front of Old Main will continue to be maintained, even though the fountain will no longer be flowing, Tarcola said.
The fountains have stopped running “”until someone tells me to turn them back on,”” he said.
Luke Bruno, a communications junior, said there are more pressing needs at the UA than worrying about whether or not the grass is green.
“”I think it’s a great idea. We need teachers, not plants,”” Bruno said.
The UA won’t re-sod the grass on the UA Mall in the high traffic area between Old Main and the Joseph Wood Krutch Cactus Garden, either, Tarcola said.
Bermuda grass will still be planted, but since it will not be resodded, it will not hold up with people walking across it, Tarcola said. The rest of the mall will be maintained as usual.
The purpose of these cut-backs is to save money, but Tarcola said it’s going to take a while to realize how much the measures will actually save.
The fountain in the Student Union Memorial Center will now only be turned on for December 7, Pearl Harbor Day. The Alumni Plaza fountain, in front of the Administration building, will run only on homecoming and graduation, he said.
Tarcola said the decision to cut back on fountains and landscaping was not completely prompted by recent criticism of what some believed to be unnecessary spending.
He said people made some good points about waste during this economic crisis and he agreed the cut-backs would be beneficial.
