Bill Lennox’s title is Senior Building Maintenance at the Gardendale Civic Center.

“My tagline is if it’s broken, I fix it,” he said. “Basically, I take care of the building.”

Lennox leads a team of four college kids in doing everything from cleaning to setting up events and parties. He said a big part of his job is converting the civic center grounds into suitable venues for big events like the Magnolia Festival, and also putting everything back the way it was when the event is over.

“I have to make the building look like nothing happened here,” he said.

Maintaining the building and helping people set up for presentations means that Lennox has a lot of interaction with the public, which he says he doesn’t mind a bit.

“I have to be a people person,” he said. “A little southern hospitality goes a long way.”

Lennox has been working for the city of Gardendale for 23 years. He started as a laborer at the old civic center, and also moonlighted as a fire department dispatcher. When the current civic center was built, his responsibilities grew and he had to give up his dispatching job.

Although his job requires a variety of skills, Lennox said he can’t do everything.

“A big part of my job is knowing people to go to when I need something done, like electricians or plumbers or contractors,” he said.

Lennox also maintains the Senior Center building next to the civic center.