Ohio Stadium settles in for the winter as Ohio State maintenance crews prepare for inclement weather and the upcoming year.

An extremely cold winter and two extra football games means more work for the people who prepare the Horseshoe for the winter months.

“Unfortunately we are in the process of un-winterizing it,” said Pete Olms, assistant building coordinator at Ohio Stadium.

The celebration for the national champion Buckeyes on Saturday is making extra work for the employees. The stadium is in hibernation for the winter — the water and heat have been turned off on various decks to save money and prevent water damage.

Leaks can cause substantial water damage if left unchecked once the water is turned back on.

“The ice blocks will freeze in the pipes. It doesn’t affect you when its cold; it affects you after,” said Donald A. Patko, assistant athletics director at Ohio Stadium.

About 100 portable toilets have been rented to compensate for the lack of water on Saturday.

“That is one of the main concerns we have about Saturday — is that only the A decks area have water, and some are not heated,” Olms said.

In addition to turning off the water as part of the Horseshoe’s winter maintenance, electricians turn off the TVs and wrap them in plastic and the goal posts are removed.

“The goal posts come out every year. We repair them and paint them,” said Robert Ross, superintendent of building maintenance at the Horseshoe.

The goal posts were removed early this year because of fears that fans would continue their attempts to knock them over after the national championship game. The goal posts are returned to the field for graduation and will be checked and touched up again.

Beyond winterizing the stadium, the staff uses the winter to prepare for special events and repair the damage done to the field throughout the football season.

“We have electrical boxes that were used for media on the sidelines and heating units. People used them as steps,” Olms said about the crowd rushing the field after the Michigan game.

Olms said next time the staff will sink the fixtures into the concrete to protect them. Despite the students trampling on the field, it is in relatively good shape.

“Besides the grass, I don’t see any damage that we suffered,” Patko said. “Nothing out of the normal.”

Maintenance crews will have to patch up the field where people took chunks of sod as souvenirs, Patko said.