The university is planning to redesign the landscape on the north side of the Memorial Union.

In order to remove the shrubs around the Fountain of the Four Seasons, parts of the sidewalks surrounding the fountain are scheduled to be closed starting at 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

“We’ll be working on each side of the fountain,” said Les Lawson, manager for facilities maintenance for facilities planning and management.

“We’ll have one side closed at a time.”

In order to remove the outer ring of shrubbery, the sidewalk on the west side is planned to be closed off Thursday for a day and a half. The east side is to be closed off for part of Friday and Monday.

“We have three days of work and as we do the work we’ll reopen the sidewalks at night,” Lawson said.

The shrubs are being removed and will be re-seeded with grass.

“They have really been getting overgrown,” he said. “They have been there for years and it’s time to refurbish it.”

The area will not be closed full-time and Lawson said he hopes the project will be completed on Monday.

Few surprises are expected during the short redesign, although the fountain has a history of unexpected occurrences.

In May 1941, the ISU president was looking forward to the fountain’s unveiling and invited important college officials and other supporters to enjoy the event.

They later found out that the previous night Drake University students painted all of the women’s faces bright red, according to the ISU Web site.