For the past three years Northwest College has been undergoing major landscaping improvements necessary to protect infrastructure and to beautify the campus. 

Now, as the projects near completion, plans are shaping up for more ambitious ventures to improve facilities.

“One step at a time,” said Colby Schaefer, facilities supervisor for the college, as summer projects wind down.

The current upgrades, coming to a close after three seasons of work, is the sprinkler setback project for nine buildings and the addition of regional landscaping boulders at the Orendorff Building — the college’s administrative facility — and the north entrance to the Johnson Fitness Center.

When the sprinkler system was first installed years ago, the sprinklers were placed too close to the buildings on campus. They ended up watering the buildings as much as the grass, putting calcium deposits on brick facades and threatening foundations, Schaefer said.

Rain Makers Landscaping, a Cody company owned by Debra Brittain, has been working for the last three seasons to dig up sprinklers at nine buildings and move them 4 feet away to stop the damage. And the company has been making landscaping improvements as it goes, including planting new flower beds in the borders.

“The flower beds were overgrown and in poor condition,” said NWC President Lisa Watson.

The Orendorff Building received special treatment. Giant cut-stone boulders from a quarry just north of the Wyoming border near Laurel, Montana, were brought in for an attractive, usable garden. Watson said the inspiration for the garden comes from the area’s environment. 

“We have lots of rocks and mountains in our lives. These are clean, attractive and long lasting additions to the campus,” she said.

The chunky stones weigh 700 to 800 pounds each and were purchased from Yellowstone Valley Rock Supply. Financing for the project was made possible by the state maintenance fund. 

The rocks replaced a large flower garden that took a lot of maintenance throughout the year. The rocks are also usable, Schaefer said, giving those wishing to enjoy some shade a place to gather.

“The white stones make everything pop,” he said.

The college has also resurfaced several parking lots this summer, using the same slurry-sealing company doing Powell city streets. The company may attend to more parking lots next year due to disintegration of the surfaces that Watson likes to refer to humorously as “asphalt cobblestone.”

One building not receiving any attention is the DeWitt Student Center. The college will raze the building soon before replacing it. The college has received $1 million from the state and the college matched the amount for the planning and design of the more than $20 million structure.

When the DeWitt building comes down, the college plans for students to dine in a temporary facility adjacent to the soccer field. It will be erected on the third hole of the newly installed disc golf course.

The hole will be moved permanently to give way to a new facility to house locker rooms for the soccer team, Schaefer said. 

“It’s in our long-term plans,” he said. “We’re slowly making improvements.”