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By Melissa Newcomb

No matter how heavy the snowfall or how cold the temperature, when Cornellians arrive (or awaken) on the Hill, they’re greeted with plowed parking lots, clean sidewalks, and warm buildings.

Keeping students, faculty, staff, and visitors safe and warm is an around-the-clock job—performed by the dozens of workers in the University’s facilities and grounds departments.

And with the Ithaca winter dragging on (and on!), Cornellians wanted to give them some well-deserved attention—and gratitude. So read on for a peek behind the pipes and plows!

Turning Up the Heat

When it comes to keeping campus toasty, it’s not just a question of comfort. As Josh LaPenna, director of utilities production, notes, “the stakes are high.”

At a large institution like Cornell, a burst pipe could potentially cause millions of dollars in damage—and some parts of campus, like labs and greenhouses, are especially temperature sensitive.

Inside the Central Energy Plant. — Jon Reis Photography

“If we don’t heat a greenhouse properly,” LaPenna observes, “a researcher who has been growing a plant for 10 years could have their work destroyed in 45 minutes.”

To make sure systems are running correctly, the Central Energy Plant’s control room (which aggregates temperature data from buildings throughout campus) is constantly monitored—in fact, LaPenna says, it has been continuously staffed by at least two workers since the building was completed in 1922.

The Central Energy Plant’s control room has been continuously staffed since the building was completed in 1922.

So how is all that heat generated?

In the plant—located on Dryden Road, east of Collegetown—two massive turbines burn natural gas to make electricity.

The exhaust heat produced during this process, which reaches a whopping 1,000 °F, could theoretically go to waste—but instead, it’s used to boil the water for the campus’s steam heating system.

Plus, on especially cold days, additional heat-specific boilers are used.

(Until 2010, the University burned coal before switching to cleaner natural gas. The next goal, LaPenna says, is for the campus to become carbon neutral by 2035—with heat harnessed from the Earth’s core through a system that’s currently being explored.)

And what if, despite everyone’s best efforts, a deep freeze leads to a cracked pipe or water line? Facilities workers start digging!

A photo of campus in the winter with text that reads, "To heat campus on a very cold day, the Central Energy Plant must produce about 6 million pounds of steam — the equivalent of boiling about 8 gallons of water every second, all day."

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“They come in the middle of the night, Christmas—whenever they need to do it, they do it, and it’s hard work,” says LaPenna, whose team is responsible not only for the campus’s heating but also its electricity, cooling, and drinking water.

“It can be a thankless job, because people don’t see it happening—but they are all unsung heroes.”

Clearing the Streets (and Sidewalks)

While Cornellians are snug in their beds as the snow comes down, members of the grounds team arrive at 2 a.m. to begin plowing roads and parking lots.

Around 4 a.m., those clearing sidewalks and stairways get to work.

Employees clearing snow from the Beebe Dam bridge. — Sreang Hok / Cornell University

The main areas on campus take around four hours to complete. But if the snow is really wet and heavy, clearing all 15 miles of roads and 61 miles of sidewalks can require a grueling seven hours or more.

“The real challenge is when they have to keep going back out because it keeps snowing,” says Dan Schied, director of grounds. “That’s exhausting; you’ve done it once, now you have to go and do it all again.”

The more than 40 staffers have regular snow-removal routes—but if they're covering a different one, they're assigned via a color-coded map of campus.

A photo of campus in the the winter with text that reads, "Grounds crews clear around 15 miles of roads, 61 miles of sidewalks and walkways, and 114 acres of parking lots."

Workers can access a free vending machine filled with items that they may need during their shift, such as gloves, vests, and hand warmers.

In a typical winter, crews spread more than 1,875 tons of salt. And even when there’s just a light dusting of snow, grounds staff frequently apply deicers to keep the sidewalks safe for pedestrians.

(As Schied notes: salt becomes relatively ineffective below 15 °F, so when the temperature drops, they use a version that's treated with magnesium chloride.)

Preparing for winter weather begins each year around Halloween—so if there’s an early storm, the equipment’s ready.

Plows at the facility at 275 East Palm Road. — Sreang Hok / Cornell University

By mid-November, the fleet of around a dozen trucks for plowing roads and parking lots and another dozen tractors for clearing sidewalks is ready to roll.

“It’s rare when there’s a snowstorm that 100% of our staff doesn’t show up, unless they’re sick or a road is closed and they can’t get out,” Schied says. “Our team is very dedicated, and they take snow removal seriously—so when it snows, they’re here.”

Top: Cleaning a plow used for sidewalks at the grounds facility on East Palm Road. (Sreang Hok / Cornell University)

Published February 28, 2025

Comments

Gwendolyn Wollney
2 Mar, 2025

Always wondered how the heating system worked. Spent a summer working on cleaning staff and I know how hard they work behind the scenes. Long gone from campus now, but thanks to the workers past and present who kept/keep it all going 👍

Reply
B. Todd Shirley, Class of 1995
2 Mar, 2025

Recognizing what is often taken for granted — a good habit for all of us. Thank you, Facilities and Grounds workers! And thank you to all who brought us this story.

Reply