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Steve Walls with Facilities, Planning and Management’s Physical Plant cleans a window in the Microbial Sciences Building atrium at UW–Madison in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. Visible in the background from left to right are the Agricultural Bulletin Building, Soils Building, King Hall, Hiram Smith Hall, Van Hise Hall, and Agricultural Hall. Photo by Michael P. King/UW–Madison CALS

During the week of January 6, a four-person crew from Facilities Planning and Management’s Physical Plant completed interior window-cleaning of more than 300 window panes in the glass-walled atrium of the Microbial Sciences Building. Because of the atrium’s high traffic during the academic year, winter break is the perfect time for this beautifying task.

Using ladders and an articulating lift, crew members Steve Walls, Mikhail Saranov, Tim McNeill and David Skuban completed the task, which is done approximately every seven years like most other campus buildings. Dawn dish soap is the cleaning agent of choice. The large lift was skillfully navigated through tight quarters between benches and the Microcosm Café to reach as many windows as possible.

On average, the team has 12-15 buildings on their schedule each year, plus special work orders requesting more frequent cleaning of high visibility areas. Spring through fall they can be seen on lifts around campus cleaning exterior windows. In the winter they move indoors.

The atrium is a confluence of old and new in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences’ section of campus. The Microbial Sciences Building, which opened in 2007, is adjacent to the Agricultural Bulletin Building (which opened as a heating plant in 1901), the Soils Building (1915), King Hall (built in two stages in 1894 and 1896), Hiram Smith Hall (1892) and Agricultural Hall (1903).

View additional photos on CALS flickr