News • August 23, 2022

The view behind the CBU landscape

The view behind the CBU landscape

Riverside, Calif. (Aug. 23, 2022) – California Baptist University resides on more than 155 acres in the heart of Riverside’s historic Magnolia Avenue District in sunny Southern California.

To complement the buildings on campus, the landscape was planned to not only enhance the natural beauty of the campus and its surroundings but to help support CBU’s sustainability efforts. 

The view behind the CBU landscapeCBU’s Facilities and Planning Services contracts with BrightView Landscape to maintain CBU’s grounds. From the sports fields to the lawns and various types of trees, a team of 13 ensures that CBU is kept beautiful. 

Ed Schmachtenberger, manager of grounds and landscaping at CBU, said BrightView brings a vast knowledge of landscape and sports field maintenance to campus.

“BrightView maintains CBU’s campus landscape to provide students, parents, faculty and staff with an aesthetically pleasing experience while on campus,” Schmachtenberger said.

Kyle Kramer, account manager for BrightView, said the crew is on campus five days a week, trimming, mowing and edging, as well as removing and preventing weeds.

“We work with a very knowledgeable crew and alongside CBU Facilities to maintain the campus, proactively solve any problems, and ensure things are running smoothly,” Kramer said.

BrightView also maintains CBU’s outdoor sports fields—soccer, softball and baseball. 

CBU recently completed its transition to NCAA Division 1. Each field must comply with NCAA regulations. Specific mowers are used to ensure that CBU adheres to the guidelines.

“Our job is to ensure than the infields and outfields are absolutely playable,” Kramer said. “We are mowing upwards of five days a week with a specific type of mower for the infield and a specific type of mower for the outfield.”

Around campus, water-wise vegetation has been planted to support CBU’s water conservation efforts. They require less watering but still contribute to the overall beauty and feel of the campus. CBU has two wells on campus that provide 80 percent of the campus’s irrigation.

“CBU is great because it has access to its own water,” Kramer said. “We are trying to create more of a desertscape, and these plants are acclimated to the climate.” 

BrightView has a full-time irrigation tech on campus to ensure that the water systems are running smoothly. Most of the campus is on smart controllers that is managed by both BrightView and CBU staff.

“The controllers will make adjustments depending on how hot it is, the humidity in the air, the wind and how much sunlight is actually hitting the ground versus the shaded areas,” said Kramer. “Everything has turned really high tech when it comes to watering."

Contact CBU Marketing and Communication

Vice President for Marketing and Communication:
Angela Meluski
Email: ameluski@calbaptist.edu

8432 Magnolia Avenue
Riverside, CA 92504