Dave Roberts, Facilities Manager at UVA
Old Cabell has a lot of nooks and crannies,
And because of that, I have to admit, it's one of my favorite buildings.
In the Central Grounds Zone we have 85 buildings, over 2 million square feet that we see to.
This area is called the cave. In each of those arches there is a little room-like space. And I could see, with everything taken out, that you could have tables and chairs, and students studying and drinking coffee and chatting
It's some of the spots that you never get to see.
I'm out of here on Friday, uh, retiring.
I, I've had a good time too.
Where we just crawled into is in the attic of Cocke Hall. And the clock is actually on the outside of the building over here. When we came to the Zone, the clock was not running. It's, uh something I was heavily involved in, getting it running again. And we just, um...treat it with a lot of love.
We're in the attic of the north portico of the Rotunda. All this graffiti that you see, is guide students.
Once they've completed their term, they'll come up here and sign off on this. It's just a history of UVA.
I've been around some of the sharpest, smartest kids you've ever met, especially with Lighting of the Lawn.
You would get students that have never had their hands on a pair of pliers, and so it was fun. They're smart and they're energetic and so the ideas would come. And it's just been growing ever since then.
Getting here at the college and starting to work, I didn't know what to expect. And it was bigger, way, way bigger than I thought.
I was in construction, and back in those days, it was all males. I've learned so much about inclusion. Inclusion can be male and female, but it can be all the other things. Me, in my male world when I was coming up and becoming an adult, I didn't know all this. And it's been a wonderful lesson for me.
UVA, at least for this one person, has changed his life forever. It's a good way to end a career here. And, and I think I'm ready to go.