No one on campus knows as much about dealing with broken pipes, misbehaving heating systems, icy pathways, and aggressive geese than Martin Fitzgerald. He has worked at Priory since 1998 and is the director of facilities, a job that involves overseeing the campus’s maintenance, food service, and hospitality crews.
What do day-to-day operations look like for you?
“There is not a day-to-day schedule. It is somewhat cyclical on an annual basis, as we get the school ready for the day, you guys (the students) tear everything apart, and then we try and put it back together. Over you guys’ breaks, primarily summer we do a major freshen up of the whole campus. I do meetings with monks, presentations of proposals, budgeting, accounting, and I even get up on top of the church and fix the bells.”
How do you and your team prepare for snow days on campus?
“First thing we do before the snow season begins is make sure all of our equipment is running properly. We check our snow plows, loaders, and treatment products. We use salt and calcium chloride to treat the roads and walkways.” When is school closed because of low temps? “School is never closed specifically because of low temperatures, but low temperatures can lead to water supply issues or inclement weather which can cause a close”
How do you determine if the campus is safe?
“We use best practices and common sense. Every morning we have a group of guys that go out and drive the campus to look for slick spots. It is not possible to remove every single piece of snow, salt, and ice on campus, cause that does not necessarily make everyone safe. We have expectations and plans for how each area will be treated and in which way.”
What is your favorite part about being the Director of Facilities at Priory?
“I get to work with students, you guys (the students) are awesome.”
What’s the craziest day of work you have ever had?
“One time I got a call on Christmas Day because a waterfall was coming out of Father Augustine’s bedroom in the monastery. It was a cold day, and he thought it would be a good idea to leave his window open, and the fan coil froze. When a fan coil freezes it will burst, so it burst and then all of the heating went out in the monastery.”
How do you feel about the geese on campus?
“We are thinking about building a wall and sending them all back to Canada. No, I am just kidding but I think we have the geese on the run. I have a pyrotechnic deterrent that I can use while you’re not in school. It is called a bird banger, and it launches a double sized bottle rocket. The geese are smart and they know what we are trying to do. Over time they have been able to recognize the cart I drive and my face. When anyone else passes by the geese they do not think much of it, but when they hear my cart or recognize my face the geese all hurry off to get away from me.”
What other animals have been found?
“Other than the obvious local creatures, occasionally there are foxes, and there’s been evidence of beavers, otters, cougars, and even a mountain lion one time.”
How many people work under you?
“I am in charge of the maintenance crew, food service, and hospitality. If you guys have chicken fingers, I have something to do with that. In the maintenance department we have fourteen people, food service we have six, and one in hospitality. None of the people in my crew are abbey employees, they are all from third party contractors.”
Biggest fish you have ever caught? [Mr. Fitzgerald is involved in the Fishing Club].
“Oh come on, I would have to say a 10 lb flathead. Nothing compared to Aidan Strauss, who has caught some giant ones.”
How do you feel about all the dog walkers?
“They do not really pose a problem to the community. We are a private property and not a public park, but our church changed the incentive a little bit. A church is always open to the public so we do get a lot of random people passing through the campus all the time. We have three entrances, but no gates making us one of the only schools nearby without gates.”
How many days of the year is the campus open?
“The campus is open all year to allow people to attend masses, so the campus is never actually “closed.” When the school is closed, certain people can access the doors at any time with special cards.”
How do you select meals?
“I meet with the food director to try to plan healthy and preferred meals, as well as putting in interesting new options. We try to get some feedback from the students to provide you guys with pleasing, but healthy options. We try to come up with new and exciting options, for example ‘warm cookie day.’ ‘Warm cookie day’ will happen again this year, but the date is NOT to be published to keep it a surprise.”
