Many fall weekends are marked by the influx of cars onto MSU’s campus: tents are erected, grills fired up and tailgates opened. It’s an eagerly anticipated ?ritual close to the heart of MSU football.
But many tailgaters might be unaware of the mark they leave on MSU’s landscape.
In the wake of MSU’s water-logged victory against Michigan on Saturday, Landscape Services manager Sean O’Connor said the damage to MSU’s ?landscape is unparalleled to another time in his career.
He said the combination of the rain leading up to and throughout the game, as well as how well-attended MSU’s largest rivalry was, created a unique situation.
“It’s the most damage I think I’ve seen here for a game,” O’Connor said. “It was just a perfect storm. … It’s just chaos when you get this many people coming onto campus.”
The main source of ?damage to MSU’s landscaping was done by cars driving over the grass.
The weight of the vehicle creates a rut in the soil that must be repaired by MSU’s ?Landscape Services.
Cars that drive or park too close to trees can also ?damage the tree’s root system.
“The foot traffic usually doesn’t leave ruts, that muddy path you see a lot of times will recover,” O’Connor said.
“The real damage is when you get cars … We’ve got to come in and ?literally bring soil in to smooth it out and then reseed it.”
O’Connor said the damage costs about 20 cents a square foot to repair, but Landscape Services still is working to assess the total cost of the weekend’s damages.
He said many tailgaters ?disregard the signs and deterrents roping off vulnerable areas — even moving solid concrete barriers — in order to park for tailgating, leading to much of the damage.
O’Connor said students don’t usually end up footing the bill.
“At the end of the line if there’s any extra expenses, a lot of times (the ?athletic department) may end up paying them, the parking ?commission may end up ?paying for some of them, that has to be determined,” O’Connor said.
“I wouldn’t say necessarily that students directly are paying that kind of damage.”
Communication sophomore Olivia Beleck was ?tailgating with her family on Saturday, but they decided to park off campus in part to avoid the hassle of finding a place to park.
“We go all out. We set up tents, bring loads of food and lots of booze as well,” Beleck said.
“We don’t tailgate out of our car (because) we don’t want to ruin the grass and landscaping around MSU’s beautiful campus … That’s just rude and annoying.”
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