Wash U’s East End Gate Keepers
Date Posted: November 20, 2017
Posted In: People, Projects, Workforce,
From Washington University Campus Next: Each day, whether it’s sunny, rainy, hot or cold, Georgia Binnington, associate dean in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, walks to her office in Bixby Hall on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis from her Pershing Ave. home.
“I could drive and park closer,” said Binnington (pictured above), “but every day I look at my car and think, ‘If I drive, I will miss them.’”
Them?
Them being Marjorie Lindsay and Danyeal Crittenden, the two employees of Castle Contracting who have stood at the entrance to the East End Transformation project every day since it began in May. With flags in hand, Lindsay and Crittenden direct traffic in and out of the site and serve as crossing guards, gatekeepers and big sisters for staff, students and workers alike.
At the height of the summer months, 122 trucks were taking 10-12 loads of dirt a day out of the site and into the Skinker traffic. The flow of that made Lindsay and Crittenden quite likely the two most important people on the Danforth Campus. Now, there aren’t quite so many trucks, but the job is still important as the two are charged with keeping the entrance to the site running smoothly.
From the beginning, this dynamic duo was up to the task, performing the job with precision, safety and good humor – with a little boogie shake thrown in for good measure.
“That’s why I started dancing,” Crittenden said. “The trucks are so big and loud, and they can be scary. So I just tried to distract the students from the scary part by doing a moonwalk or something. Then they started dancing with me. I think it takes their mind off everything going on around them.”
Now six months into the biggest construction project in Danforth Campus history, the two women have flagged their way into the hearts of the Washington University community.
And it may have begun with Binnington. “On maybe the third day of my walk this past summer, I said to them, ‘I’m going to be crossing here every day, so what’s your name?’
“We just started talking,” Binnington said. “And sharing stories. And getting to know each other. And now I’m happy to call them my friends. They make my morning so much better.”