Skip To Content
Filter search
Cal Poly Pomona
  • LIBRARY
  • ONLINE SERVICES
  • DIRECTORY
  • MAPS
  • CALENDAR
  • About Cal Poly Pomona
  • Cal Poly Pomona Overview
  • Visitor Information
  • Campus Maps & Tours
  • News
  • Events
  • Administration
  • Annual Security Report
  • Campus Safety Plan
  • Admissions
  • Undergraduate Admissions
  • Graduate Admissions
  • International Admissions
  • Continuing Education Admissions
  • Military & Veterans Admissions
  • Financial Aid & Scholarships
  • Student Accounts & Fees
  • Outreach, Recruitment, & Educational Partnerships
  • Academics
  • Colleges & Departments
  • Majors & Degrees
  • University Catalog & Academic Schedules
  • University Library
  • Research
  • Academic Resources
  • Registrar
  • Campus Life
  • Student Services
  • Student Activities
  • Recreation & Fitness
  • Health & Wellness
  • Housing & Dining
  • Diversity
  • Calendars & Events
  • Campus Safety & Emergency Info
  • Athletics
  • Visit Athletics Website
  • Alumni
  • Visit Alumni Website
  • Giving
  • Why Give
  • Ways to Give
  • Where to Give

PolyCentric University News Center

Main Menu
  • About Our University
  • Admissions
  • Academics
  • Campus Life
  • Athletics
  • Giving
  • Expand/Collapse Menu
Browse: Home / 2018 / December / New Cal Poly Pomona Rose Float Lab Breaks Ground

PolyCentric

University News Center

Menu

Skip to content
  • About
    • Submissions
    • Contact
    • Department of Strategic Communications
    • PolyCentric
  • News
    • Browse by Topic
    • View All Stories
    • In Memoriam
    • Archives
  • Achievements
  • Announcements
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Photos
  • Social Media Directory
  • Events
  • For the Media

New Cal Poly Pomona Rose Float Lab Breaks Ground

Posted on December 18, 2018

President Soraya Coley and others take part in groundbreaking ceremonies for the Rose Float Lab at Cal Poly Pomona November 17, 2018.
President Soraya Coley and others take part in groundbreaking ceremonies for the Rose Float Lab at Cal Poly Pomona November 17, 2018.

For many years, students have constructed rose floats in an open-air lab, competing against professionals for recognition at the Rose Parade.

That’s about to change.

Fit for a team with 58 awards, construction will soon begin on a new Rose Float lab to facilitate the collaboration of students from Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The Cal Poly Universities’ float will continue to inspire success and innovation – but with facilities that offer new amenities.

The Rose Float Lab and Design Complex groundbreaking was celebrated on Nov. 21 on the east end of campus.

The lab, across from Building 45, will include a 5,700-square-foot building that will house an electronics shop, hydraulic shop and a large bay for float construction. The third-acre complex will also include a large outdoor courtyard and picnic area for design work, float building and student gatherings, as well as 5,000 square feet of storage space – a significant upgrade from the current facility.

“This is such a momentous occasion for Cal Poly Pomona,” President Soraya M. Coley said at the groundbreaking. “It carries on the wonderful tradition we have every year that we have a student-built float that is in the Rose Parade. Now we will have a facility that will help the students and continue to produce these outstanding, award-winning floats.”

The current facility, which is 159 yards away from the new lab, is cherished and taught students to do more with less, said Rose Float Director Janetta McDowell (’97, Liberal Studies). That’s how past teams garnered dozens of awards, including the 2018 Past President Award for most outstanding innovation in the use of floral and non-floral materials.

However, McDowell said students would appreciate having an enclosed facility and adequate shelter from the elements.

“It’s really an exciting time for the Rose Float family because for so long they have been working in conditions that are pretty rigorous. When it rains, it rains in the lab, so it will be good just to have them in a more comfortable Rose Float and safer lab environment,” said McDowell, who volunteered on the float as a student.Rose Float

The university received a $1 million lead gift from Rose Float alumnus Butch Lindley (‘67, Agronomy) and his wife, Vivien, to build the new lab. Together, they want to honor two Rose Float alumni, Don Miller (‘52, Horticulture) and Ron Simons (‘64, Agronomy; ’69, Food Marketing & Agribusiness Management), who are credited as key contributors to the Cal Poly Universities’ float’s early beginnings.

Miller, who died in 2004, had a vision for what seemed impossible. As a student in 1948, he pitched the idea of entering the Rose Parade, even though he had no budget or organization, and the big event was less than 100 days away. Nevertheless, on Jan. 1, 1949, the Cal Poly Universities made their debut with “A Rocking Horse,” the only student-designed and built float in the Rose Parade.

Simons, long known as “Mr. Cal Poly Pomona,” has been a leading supporter of the Rose Float program since his arrival as a student in 1959. (He was the astronaut on the 1962 float, “Man on the Moon.”) He remained a tireless supporter of the program throughout his long career on campus as an administrator.

“The Rose Float has given us life-learning experiences that helped us be successful,” Simons said. “What Rose Float students have in common is tenacity. When you think you’re down and there’s no other way of getting something done, you just keep plugging away, and it gets done.”

Posted in News | Tags $1 million gift, Butch Lindley, Cal Poly Universities Rose Float, Don Miller, Don Miller and Ron Simons Rose Float Lab, groundbreaking, Janetta McDowell, President Coley, Ron Simons, Rose Float lab, Rose Float Lab and Design Complex, rose parade

POPULAR

  • COVID-19 Mass Vaccination Hub Opening at Cal Poly Pomona

    9098 views / Posted February 4, 2021
  • Newly Launched Vaccination Hub at CPP to Serve Thousands in the Region

    2383 views / Posted February 5, 2021
  • Budget Brief: Early Exit Program Helps Fill Budget Gap, Prompts Reimagining Work

    780 views / Posted February 23, 2021
  • CLASS Dean Iris Levine

    CLASS Act: Dean Levine Sets High Bar for Herself and Others

    773 views / Posted January 11, 2021
  • A group photo of Cal Poly Pomona’s Reading, Advising, and Mentoring Program

    RAMP Receives $2.2 Million Grant For Underrepresented Students

    710 views / Posted January 15, 2021

Picture of the Day »

Kid on Mom

Kid on Mom

Cal Poly Pomona in the News »

Interest Surges in Top Colleges, While Struggling Ones Scrape for Applicants

This article was originally published by The New York Times.

Best of the Inland Empire: Best Schools / College


CPP opens mass COVID-19 vaccination site


Cal Poly Pomona opens COVID-19 vaccination site


Cal Poly Pomona Site Capable of Vaccinating Up To 10,000 a Day Opens Friday


Tags
$1 million gift, Butch Lindley, Cal Poly Universities Rose Float, Don Miller, Don Miller and Ron Simons Rose Float Lab, groundbreaking, Janetta McDowell, President Coley, Ron Simons, Rose Float lab, Rose Float Lab and Design Complex, rose parade
About Cal Poly Pomona Feedback Privacy Accessibility Document Readers

3801 West Temple Avenue,Pomona, CA 91768

©2018 California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

All Rights Reserved