Colin Kohrs / Winonan

There are new bike racks on the Winona State University campus, and this is just the start of improvements to the campus.

“There’s going to be more [upgrades],” Lisa Pearson, Arboretum Director and Interim Director of Planning & Construction at Winona State, said.

Facilities recently placed 50 “u” shaped racks outside of Kryzsko Commons and on the north end of campus by the eagle statue and Maxwell Hall.

According to Pearson, these racks account for about two thirds of the whole project. The rest will be “going out around Pasteur [Hall] and that little parking lot that leads over to the science labs,” Pearson said.

The racks, Pearson explained, were initially purchased for installation around Haake Hall and Kirkland Hall, but the plans fell through.

“So they were just sitting in storage,” Pearson said, “These had to be retrofitted a little bit because we had to mount them on existing concrete, so I made sure that we could focus on areas that were really needed. And that was by Kryszko and some of these other areas.”

Facilities is looking to phase out the temporary bike racks and improve existing ribbon racks as well, Pearson said.

“There’s always a need for bike racks, and I’m trying to get away from some of the temporary racks that are out there that aren’t as nice to use for the bikes,” Pearson said.

For the ribbon racks, Facilities will be repainting them silver as part of the master plan for campus and site furniture, Pearson said. This will help prevent rust damage in addition to improved aesthetic quality.

From bikes to boards, Winona State student and avid longboarder Calvin Johnson is working with Facilities to bring longboard racks.

“(Johnson) designed some skateboard racks to campus for the longboards,” Pearson said. “He is coordinating with some local vendors to have five of them constructed, so we will be setting some of the board racks. The boarders don’t have to bring their boards inside, so they can lock them up.”

In addition to the racks, students will see new recycle bins showing up in the near future.

Residence Halls, Kryzsko Commons and the Integrated Wellness Complex will have 17 new bins in total.

“They’ll be scattered around all the Residence Hall entries on main campus, over on west campus there’ll be five and two over by East Lake,” Pearson said.

The Green Fee grant will also be paying for five bins for the “central open space green area,” on main campus, Pearson said.

“They’ll kind of do a little double duty for serving some of our academic hall entrances, but they’re focusing on the main thoroughfare and where you’re sitting when you’re cruising through campus,” Pearson said. “We can’t afford to put one by our academic buildings yet, but at least we will be able to put them in the areas where students are hanging out and probably eating and snacking, making it convenient for you guys to recycle.”

These bins will be manufactured locally at Anova Furnishings.

“It reduces our carbon footprint,” Pearson said.

And they will be installed shortly. The bins were delivered on Tuesday, April 4.

“As the rain and our time permits with our crews, we’ll be starting placing them out on campus in the next few weeks,” Pearson said. “You’ll be seeing them soon.”

By Colin Kohrs