Civil Engineering Students Renovate Gazebo in CPP's Historic Rose Garden
The gazebo in Cal Poly Pomona’s century-old rose garden has a new layer of polytechnic significance.
Thirty-eight students from two civil engineering classes collaborated on a senior project during the 2024-25 academic year to renovate the gazebo — the first major renovation on the structure, which was the gift from the Class of 1995. The updated gazebo, completed in May, has a new roof, updated lighting system, freshly painted and repaired benches around its base and a new walking path to the adjacent bathrooms.
True to the university’s polytechnic ethos, the civil engineering students and faculty led the planning, testing, conceptualizing, demolishing and re-constructing, supported by funding and construction material provisions from CPP donors.
“My favorite part of this project was getting to give back to the school and the future students who will visit this historic landmark,” said Quinn Benitez, a civil engineering student who worked on the roof and helped design the new walkway. “I’m excited to brag about this project and the impact it had during my future job interviews.”
Planning and Construction
The gazebo is the centerpiece of a rose garden planted by cereal magnate W.K. Kellogg on his then-winter ranch in the mid 1920s and designed by esteemed landscape architect Charles Adams of Hearst Castle renown. It hosted the university’s commencement ceremonies beginning in 1956 before the student body outgrew the venue.
During the 2023-24 academic year, Civil Engineer Professor Dragos Andrei was eating lunch in the gazebo when he was inspired to pitch its renovation for a potential senior project.
There were many stages of the project co-chaired by Andrei and Assistant Professor Siddharth Banerjee, but the construction was executed during spring 2025 and completed in time for the Class of 2025 to take graduation photos.
But before the first shingle could be removed, extensive testing, planning and conceptualizing were required.
Civil engineering students gathered soil samples and collaborated with Geological Sciences Professor Iftekhar Alam to conduct a ground penetrating radar survey of the gazebo to assess the foundation.
“The students were not afraid to work hard, to face challenges, to seek solutions, to overcome and to cross the finish line in full force,” Andrei said. “They were exposed to both design and construction elements, and some of the most valuable polytechnic experiences were learning to work and coordinate stages of the work with different stakeholders, supervisors, fellow teammates and other trades.”
There was no budget for the project, so students raised funds from CPP donors, who donated items like shingles and roofing materials, and also donated their time.
Become By Doing
In addition to the physical aspects of the project, the real-world lessons included leadership and collaboration. Wilver Arita, the project’s student lead, was the single point of contact for the project team from early on, pulled together multiple teams of students working on various aspects of the project, coordinated with stakeholders and led the physical construction of the gazebo roof, among other things.
“Being the student lead on this project has taught me what it takes to be a project manager and be the leader that people want to follow,” he said.
Levi Dominguez, a fourth-year student, appreciated the variety of learning experiences — hands-on construction, collaboration with the geology department, and participation in the design process.
“In industry, you’re usually limited to working on only one aspect of the entire project,” Dominguez said. “My favorite part of this project was being able to see the construction from start to finish.”
As he approached graduation in May, Dominguez said talked about his experiences in job interviews. He since landed a position with KPFF, an engineering firm with more than 30 locations around the United States.
CPP gained a newly renovated iconic landmark and civil engineering students gained valuable on-the-job, polytechnic training.
“Saying thank you is such an understatement because no words can express the gratitude we have to all the donors that contributed to this project,” said Arita, a fourth-year student. “Without their contribution, this wouldn’t have been possible.”
One of the pride points of the project for Andrei was seeing such a diverse group of students use their unique viewpoints to solve problems along the way.
“Everything and everyone came together at the right time, and when everything seemed lost, a solution always came to save the day,” Andrei said. “We have amazing students and they will make extraordinary professionals. Each student brings with him or her their culture — and we are multi-cultural, and very diverse — but we all united and worked hard. We found common ground.”
Donors, students, faculty, staff. The list of collaborators on this project is long. In addition to Andrei and Banerjee, civil engineering lab tech Michael Johnson played an important role as the safety lead. Other departments across CPP also contributed, including Facilities, Risk Management, the College of Engineering, Office of the President and Annual Giving.
Nick Crisp from GAF, North America’s largest roofing and waterproofing manufacturer, donated the shingles and roofing materials for the project. Martin Hansberger from Holliday Rock, a Southern California producer of aggregate, concrete, and asphalt, donated materials for the new walkway. Melvin Baltodano from Melvin’s Wrought Iron, coordinated the professional services of shingle installer Isidro Gomez.