Cleaning & Maintenance Management magazine, August 2014

KEEPING McWane Science Center Clean O Over the past year the redevelopment of Birmingham Alabamas downtown area has generated positive press for the city As new parks restaurants breweries and venues have opened magazines and news websites have reported on the resurgent city and its updated points of interest One of the earliest attractions to find its home in downtown Birmingham was Mc Wane Science Center The nonprofit museum opened in 1998 and it was built inside a refurbished building that housed a Lovemans department store A Full Tour Phillip Moore Director of Facilities for Mc Wane Science Center explains that the museum has four floors and each is home to a different type of exhibit or use The museums lowest level includes an aquarium school lunchrooms and a vending area Next the first floor is composed of the grand lobby the IMAX Dome Theater entrance a small food court style café the Adventure Halls section with multiple exhibits and the museums store Really Cool Stuff Currently half of the second floor is home to an Alabama dinosaurs exhibit Within the other half construction of the new childrens museum is underway Finally traveling exhibits are set up on the third floor and this level includes art and tech areas as well as an event center The museums environmental services team led by Environmental Services Manager Brian Ruffin is responsible for the 4000 to 6000 school group visitors Weekend visitor counts in spring often depend on the weather The number of visitors decreases during the summer but the facility hosts summer camps for campers in K5 through the eighth grade When fall weather arrives in late September and October attendance picks up again For the winter holidays McWane hosts a number of events and company parties and the week between Christmas and New Years is especially busy with Birmingham families visiting the museum while school is out and offices are closed Why Cleaning Is So Important I tell all of Brians people they are the first line of defense when it comes to McWane Science Center Moore explains When people get off the parking deck elevator they look at the lobby Is the lobby clean The next area is going to be the restrooms Due to their location one of the first places visitors go upon arrival is the lobby restroom They dont want to bring their families here or children here and go into a restroom thats just not presentable and has an unhealthy appearance Moore states So we really really stay focused on cleaning the restrooms Ruffin says daily maintenance on the lobby restrooms is often more of a challenge because the restrooms are accessible to the general public as well as paid museum visitors cleaning of all the private and public areas in the science center This means the environmental services team regularly performs an array of cleaning activity from cleaning up after special events and IMAX showings to vacuuming out the store and maintaining food court floors and trash cans For All Seasons McWane Science Centers and the environmental service teams busiest time of the year is definitely spring due to frequent field trips and visiting school groups Moore estimates that McWane hosts anywhere from 5000 to 7000 visitors a week Monday through Friday this total includes By Phillip Lawless Editor How environmental services keeps this unique facility safe for visitors staff and aquatic animals Open aquarium tanks require cleaning staff to be cautious with the cleaning supplies used around the habitats a clean sweep www CMMOnline com 47