The Houston Zoo is a beautiful environment, which we work hard to create for our guests. But with over 1.8 million visitors a year, have you ever wondered what it actually takes to maintain the sprawling 55 acres? I caught up with Jeff Frenzel, our Buildings and Grounds Manager, to find out.
Jeff has a staff totaling 38 people: 21 Housekeepers and 15 Groundskeepers… and they have two supervisors: Billy Murphy and Tommy Hawkins.
All in all, this tight knit team gets done what would normally require a small army, and they do it every day, 364 days a year. Both Housekeeping and Grounds have two different shifts per day to cover all that needs to be done. For Grounds, the first is from 7:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., while the second runs from 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. The early shift mission is to get the Zoo ready for opening.
Our brand new street sweeper
“Every day we blow the whole Zoo with back pack blowers,” says Jeff. “We run our brand new street sweeper and haul the trash from the day before and we also collect animal waste cleared from the habitat areas.”
Our large debris blower
After the Zoo is deemed ready for our visitors, each Groundskeeper is assigned a certain area of the Zoo, on a rotating schedule. Jeff mixes it up when he makes these assignments to be sure no one gets bored. They’re responsible for that certain zone, making sure trash is picked up off the ground and all garbage and recycling cans are clean. This goes a long way in making it that much more of a pleasant visit for our guests.
These kinds of push carts hold lots of bags and are easy to maneuver
Housekeeping’s shifts occur at slightly different hours. 6:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. and 11:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. We have eight public bathrooms that naturally are prepped and ready before the Zoo opens, but did you realize that ALL those bathrooms are cleaned or checked a minimum of 7 times per day?
Keeping all-important areas, like those for baby, sparkling
Now here’s an unexpected fact: in addition to cleaning all the buildings, they also clean ALL the glass. That’s right! Jeff told me, “Every single piece of glass gets wiped down every single day.” I was impressed.
Every single piece of glass gets cleaned each day!
Add in our banner stands, light fixtures, water foutnains, all signs, all benches… if it’s out on the Zoo, it’s cleaned on a regular schedule.
Banner stands, Plan Your Day kiosks and benches, oh my!
Jeff added, “Our Clinic, Commissary, offices — anything back of the house is cleaned too. But my staff is never in contact with the animals. Those are kept only by Keepers. The evening shift’s Housekeeping duties are to check all the public bathrooms first, which they then maintain throughout the shift. Inbetween they will clean a few office buildings. Once the Zoo closes, they then clean the McGovern’s Children’s Zoo as well as the Kipp Aquarium.
The Housekeeing staff also supports our Rangers for any calls on any spills or out-of-the ordinary clean-ups — like when someone’s eaten a little too much ice cream, or skinned their knee pretty bad. After first aid is administered, Housekeepers come to make sure the area has been disinfected.
Over the course of the year, with so many visitors, you can only imagine some of the stuff that grounds and housekeepers encounter. All the more reason to truly appreciate the fantastic job that they do on a daily basis.
Did you know that the Grounds and Housekeeping crew are also an intergral part of our many Special Events held on Zoo Grounds?
A large sit down event in our Brown Education Center
In addition to set up and striking of tables and chairs, Grounds keeps a check on trash and Housekeeping is stationed at the bathrooms during and after events.
Events occur everywhere in the Zoo, like this at Reptile House
It’s no surprise this dept has gotten several Houston Zoo Star Awards – which are special internal recognitions. We appreciate them all and all they do so much!
Jeff Frenzel with our Special Events team
A standing ovation goes to:
Supervisor Billy Murphy Grounds and HK
Supervisor Tommy Hawkins Grounds and HK
GROUNDS STAFF
CB Massop Demond Guidry
Lestene Tipps Walter Sanders
James Menefee Darryl Thompson
Rodney Mann Zac McGee
Errol Wooden Eugene Bradley
Cedric Smith Greg Simpson
Omar Guerra Gerald Oliver
HOUSEKEEPING STAFF
Lilly Giddins Paula Herrera
LeeEster Morgan Kilshonta Garrick
Christine Fontenot Maria Flores
Sylvia Olivio Karrie Gotcher
Maurice Gordon Sabrina Lomas
TJ McCulloch Regina White
Tequera Moor Antoine Darjean
David Hannon Brittany Walker
Donna Stubbs Debra Morgan
Isahia Hamilton Ciera Williams
Tish Pink
Hometown: Houston, TX
