Illinois State University's Facilities Management Grounds Dept. Wins PGMS Green Star Honor Award

Illinois State University's Facilities Management Grounds Department won the Professional Grounds Management Society Green Star Honor Award for the Genevieve Green Gardens at Ewing Manor.

"The Green Star Honor Award is a national competition that recognizes outstanding landscapes and maintenance aspects in the industry," said Darcy Loy, assistant director of ground operations.

This is the 11th national award for the ISU campus and the second for the Genevieve Green Gardens. The garden has also won the City of Bloomington's Beautification Award.

"These two awards that we have received over the last three months say a lot about the site and those who care for it," Loy said.

"The $2.5 million renovation was completed in the spring of 2008," Loy added. "The renovation included stripping brick pathways, adding new planting and theme gardens, new annual beds and an automatic irrigation system with 55 zones and over 1,000 irrigation heads."

An awards committee consisting of PGMS members chaired by Don Bottger, CGM of Viejas Casino in Alpine, CA, judges the entries based upon the following seven categories: site and operations inventories, turf management, irrigation design and paved areas management, general management skills, budget and finance, safety standards and regulatory compliance.

The ISU Grounds Department submitted a Power Point presentation that included photos depicting the beauty of the site and the staff working on the gardens, as well as a narrative defining the maintenance plan and budget.

"In all, PGMS received 30 entries. Eight sites were awarded Grand Awards and 11 were recognized with Honor Awards," Eric Grammer, communications manager at PGMS said. "Illinois State's Genevieve Green Gardens was one of three sites to be recognized with an Honor Award in the Urban University category joining the University of Maryland-Baltimore County and Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill. Texas Tech University received a Grand Award in this category."