B&G Will Re-Install Fences In Effort to Protect Quad Sod

Building and Grounds (B&G) will reinstall fences and take other measures this spring to protect the sod planted on the Quad last fall, a department spokesman said yesterday.

Bernard K. Keohan, B&G superintendent of grounds, said the department hopes to reduce wear on the lawn while it is most vulnerable and to increase drainage from the lawn.

Fenced In

"We're definitely going to refence in certain areas as soon as possible, "Keohan said, adding that fences would be placed to divert people from the paths which have already been worn in the new turf.

Keohan said the department may use fences consisting of stakes and wires, similar to those used in the Yard, rather than the red wooden snow fences which surrounded the Quad during the fall.

Keohan said B&G will undertake a gypsum soil conditioning program on the Quad this spring in order to eliminate soil compaction and increase drainage.

The department may resod some of the dead and damaged spots on the lawn, but will do no such patchwork until the ground is more workable, Keohan said.

The South House Committee voted last week to send a letter to B&G asking that fences again be placed around the lawn, committee chairman Marc J. Sobil '80 said yesterday.

Sobil said he opposes the installation of fences on a permanent basis, but does not object to having fences up through spring break.

"I don't see the purpose of having a beautiful-looking Quad that people can't use," Sobil said.

Ann M. Wacker, associate master of South House, said yesterday she has no objection to fences on the Quad as long as they are temporary.

"I think the Quad is there to be used, but then we don't want the place a mudheap, either," Wacker said.

"I was advised by the pros that this [the resodding] was a good thing to do," Dean Fox, who authorized the resodding last fall, said yesterday. Fox estimated the cost of the project at between $20,000 and $30,000.