For 35 years, Rich Garrey has seen Friley Hall change and morph.

Garrey, now manager of residence hall maintenance, started working for the university as a member of the custodial staff assigned to Friley Hall in 1978. Having worked at the hall since then, Garrey has seen a lot of changes to Friley and recalls the biggest one being the fifth addition to Friley in 1984.

“I was here for the 1984 addition, which is where the administrative offices are with contracting, and the hall desk and the computer lab,” Garrey said. “That was originally a green space, underneath the grass was the membrane to the dining room which everybody refers to as ‘dungeons,’ because it has no windows.”

There were leaks into the dining center, and at the time, the university was out of women’s housing, so they fixed the leaks with the new addition and above that, new housing for women was built.

Garrey remembers his first day on the job.

“On my very first day when I came here, my supervisor at the time handed me my keys, showed me my break room, introduced me to three custodians and said, ‘Good luck,’” Garrey said. “I was lost that whole day.”

Garrey said the only way he was able to find his bearings was looking out the windows and using Lincoln Way as a guide, but after about five to six years, he knew his way around pretty well. Garrey said he believes he now knows his way around Friley better than the rest of the custodial staff.

Peggy Pfrimmer has been working at the university for more than 25 and, like Garrey, started as a member of the custodial staff. She also got a little lost at the beginning of her time at Friley.

“After a couple days, I thought I’d be able to learn better on my own, so I went off on my own and couldn’t get back,” Pfrimmer said.

Pfrimmer found a member of the maintenance crew who helped her find her way back to the break room, she said. Eventually, Pfrimmer was able to learn her way around the building, especially after working during the summer, because the staff was required to work throughout the entire residence hall.

Pfrimmer and Garrey were both on staff when Union Drive Community Center opened in 2003 to replace the old dining center in Friley Hall. Along with the dining center that closed, the post office and the convenience store in Friley were also moved to Union Drive Community Center.

Out of all his memories of working at Friley, one day particularly sticks out to Garrey. He was working before a break, and as he was leaving he heard someone yelling for help. Some parents, who had just finished contracting a room for their student, had entered a stairwell expecting the door at the bottom of it to open. However, at this time the stairwells had been locked and the parents became trapped.

Garrey had to come to their assistance.

“Lo and behold there was a mom and a dad with their head out the window in the stairwell yelling for help, because they couldn’t get back in through the stairwell, couldn’t raise anybody, so they got locked in,” Garrey said. “It was before cellphones, so they really couldn’t get out without someone seeing them.”

Just like Garrey and Pfrimmer, students living in Friley have to find their own way around the vast Hall.

“I don’t think it takes students that long anymore because they like to venture out and walk around,” Garrey said.