The grounds between Parks Library and Alumni Hall have been torn up in order to install an irrigation system to help protect the grass now and in seasons to come.

Rick Fox, landscape architect and project manager for the irrigation system installment, said this system will help keep the area looking good for student celebrations such as Veishea.

“We want to keep the turf in healthy condition,” Fox said. “It will help re-establish turf when we seed the area in the spring.”

Lisa Orgler, who also is a landscape architect for the campus, said Facilities Planning and Management received money for the project from the university’s year-end funding, which was allocated from ISU President Martin Jischke.

The department provided a wish list of what ISU officials wanted to do to make the campus more aesthetically pleasing, and a proposal for an irrigation system was on the list.

“We’re trying to beautify the campus,” Orgler said.

The land is in relatively good condition due to the work of campus ground keepers, Fox said.

Without the irrigation system, the condition of the soil would depend on the amount of rainfall during summer months.

Fox said he and his colleagues decided to work on the area between the library and Alumni Hall for specific reasons.

“We chose the area because it’s an area that receives a lot of traffic throughout the day,” he said.

Fox said the Facilities Planning and Management office would have preferred to start the project earlier in the year, but delays in the designing process and late timing of funds postponed it until October.

The irrigation system, which will water the lawn as needed from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m., will help the grass heal in case of harsh treatment.

“One year during Veishea it rained, and due to the tents being pitched and people walking around on the area, the grounds were damaged,” Fox said. “If we had had a system then, the healing process would have been a lot quicker.”