Mike Butkovic
WesWorks
Mike Butkovic has been working around steam and boiler rooms for over 15 years. In 2016, he joined the Wesleyan University facilities department, Physical Plant, as a Boiler Tender at the Central Power Plant. Because the power plant is located underground, many Wesleyan students go their whole academic career without knowing it exists. In fact, it’s one of the most important places on campus, generating steam, cold water, and electricity to heat, cool, and power the school. And Mike and 4 his colleagues staff it 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
“[I want people to know] that we exist! We are here. We are here. When you see something sticking out of the ground, probably something’s attached to it. And there might be something going on underneath because even the manholes…anywhere you go, there’s a whole world underneath.”
Mike is a part of WesWorks, Forklift Danceworks’ new performance featuring the movement and stories of Wesleyan University’s Facilities employees. Presented by Wesleyan’s Center for the Arts in partnership with the College of the Environment, Wes Works is the third of three dances in Forklift’s On Campus series.
In anticipation of the premiere of WesWorks, Mike talked with Forklift choreographer Gretchen Lamotte about his work in the power plant, the intuition he’s developed around the equipment, and his experience having students shadow him on the job. Listen to their conversation or read the full transcript below.
Mike Butkovic: I’m Mike Butkovic and my job title at Wesleyan University is Boiler Tender in the Central Power Plant.
Gretchen Lamotte: And how long have you been working here?
MB: This October it will be five years.
GL: And just for people who might not know, what is the power plant? What do you do there?
MB: Well, down at the power plant, we produce the steam and chilled water to heat and cool campus. We also use steam for ancillary equipment and dishwashing and for the labs for experiments. We also produce electricity with our CoGen — that’s a 16 cylinder natural gas engine that gives us 2,400 kilowatts of power. And recently we started our hot water project and now we’ll be heating hot water to heat the buildings throughout campus.
GL: Wow. So heating, cooling, and electricity all coming out of there.
MB: Yeah.
GL: Can you describe the movement of some part of your job? You know, how do you move throughout the day? Like what are you, what are you doing?
MB: Well to get to the job, we have to move on down 50 feet or so into the ground as we’re located underneath the field of grass above us. So we move in all directions down here, we move up, down, left and right, forward and back. Sometimes we have movements where we’re not moving as much as using a man lift. Sometimes we move parallel to the ground where we’re traversing pipes, walking across the pipes. Yeah. So we’re all over the place…up and down ladders, and we have really steep ship stairs here that are tough to navigate a lot of pipes in the way, a lot of obstacles. We have chains hanging all over for valves that are up in the ceiling so we can open and shut them. So you have to always be aware and safe.
GL: Yeah. What do you think about as you’re moving around the plant?
MB: For the most part, I think about moving in a safe manner, safety first, always safety. And then the most efficient manner that I can put my eyes and ears on everything. I try to check all the equipment, all the readings, all the digital outputs…make sure that the plant’s running properly. So safety and efficient movement.
GL: Yeah. And then you’re also — you mentioned sounds, like there’s lots of different kinds of sounds down there. So you’re also listening, right? Like you’re walking and checking things, but you’re…talk about like what you’re kind of listening for.
MB: Yeah. That one is just, that’s a different kind. That’s just a sense. That’s nothing you ever think about, but everyone that is inclined to a career as such would understand. I can relate it to walking into a room and having a feeling that a TV is on because you can like sense it being on, you can hear the hum. So that’s kind of like the equipment down here. If we’re having a little hum off, we might know if something, a pump might be blowing a seal or a bearing might be off…going bad…so we can kind of tell. And it’s not much you have to think about, you just kinda know. It just hits you.
GL: That’s so cool. You’re so tuned in to what’s happening down there.
MB: Yeah. You just can’t teach it, you know, it’s like something you can’t say, “Listen to this.” It’s kind of like you open the door and you kind of go, “Uh oh, something’s off.”
GL: Yeah. Awesome. Well, what do you love about your job, Mike?
MB: I love the people at Wesleyan. I love to help the students. I like to make sure they’re comfortable for their academic career. I also love the problem solving. Something new every day and it gets interesting sometimes. And I like to be part of the solution.
GL: What are some of the challenges that come up? Like what are, what are some of those problems you’ve had?
MB: Yeah. When something breaks, pretty much when something breaks or goes down because it directly affects the campus. We are the heart of the heating and cooling and the electrical. So other challenges are… Sometimes finding parts is a problem, especially recently with Covid, getting parts on a timely manner. Filling shifts because we run nonstop, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days out of the year with five people. So that’s a challenge. Getting people days off is a challenge.
GL: Yeah! So there’s five people working in the plant and there is always someone down there 24 hours a day?
MB: Correct.
GL: Wow. Cool. Well, so you’re working with us on this show that we’re developing for October, and you’ve also done some work with students last semester, working on some creative projects with them. So what was that like? What was the highlight of working with them last spring?
MB: The highlight for me was to get to know the students and learn myself. I took a lot of pride in being part of their academic career. Especially in my position being underground I don’t get to touch many students’ lives in a positive way — in any way — and then to do it in such a positive way where, you know, we had fun, a good time, we learned a lot, and we learned a lot about each other. And I had a great experience with all of them. You know, I felt like family after the semester. I have three daughters, so they’re kind of like an addition to that.
GL: Aw, that’s really sweet to hear.
MB: And I hope someone else helps mine along the way, too. And it was great that they were really interested, too. For someone to actually want — from what I was told the students wanted to come down here — so that was exciting to have someone actually want to come down and be interested. That’s, you know, I always embraced that.
GL: Yeah. Can you say more about that? Like what’s it like to have students interested in your job?
MB: Well, I know what you see down here isn’t normal everyday life at all, for most people. Some people will never, ever witness anything, seeing anything like this in their life. So maybe it’ll be able to stay with them for a while throughout their lives. When they get older, they’ll know, you know, manholes on the ground, they’ll know kind of what’s underneath them and how it all works and ties together and the bigger picture of things. Just a different perspective, more information and learning and, you know, make them better people in a small way.
GL: That’s awesome. Well, what do you want people to know, Mike, about your work?
MB: That we exist! We are here. We are here. There are things like when you see something maybe — I mean about the power plant — when you see something sticking out of the ground, probably something’s attached to it. And there might be something going on underneath because even like the manholes and anywhere you go, there’s a whole world underneath. Sometimes we get so stuck and can’t see a foot in front of our face, but it just gives you a different perspective. There’s other things out there that you never knew about.
GL: Yeah. Well, it’s been a whole, you know, another world for me to learn about, spending some time with you in the plant, for sure.
MB: Yeah, I appreciate all you guys. I appreciate your time and all your efforts.
GL: Well, you too. It’s a privilege to get to go down there and see what you do. I’m so grateful to work with you and I’m excited for the show!
MB: I am, too. Thank you, Gretchen. And I’ll surely talk to you soon!
On the Job: 20 Portraits from 20 Years highlights the work of twenty people who have collaborated and performed with Forklift Danceworks. Featuring new interviews between Forklift choreographers and our collaborators, the series shares the voices and experiences of people whose work sustains our communities.
New portraits will be released each month, so follow us on Facebook and Instagram to meet more Forklift performers throughout the year!
This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.
