Striking architecture, beautiful landscaping and nauseated students­­­ — all things one is likely to see when approaching the Hyrum Manwaring Center.

For a long time a nasty stench has plagued the northwest corner of this central campus structure. Over the years, people have found ways to deal with it.

“I just don’t smell when I walk by there,” said Ruby Whittaker of the Scheduling Office. “I just hold my breath.”

Although students are not sure what the smell is, some have their own theories.

Katie Rhoades, a junior from Pocatello, Idaho, guessed that the smell was “…probably leftover food from the Nordic. Disgusting.”

Despite what some students may think, Coleman Steel, the campus mechanical supervisor, said it is due to one thing only.

He said the smell actually originates from the grease trap situated on the north side of the MC. This trap is used to strain undesirables from the Galley’s wastewater before it enters Rexburg’s sewer lines. The smell comes from leftover food, which gets into the traps and begins rotting before they are pumped clean.

The grease trap is comprised of three separate tanks: one small one where the grease enters and two large ones that are roughly ten feet deep.

Altogether they can hold approximately 3,000 gallons of foul sludge before a truck must be summoned to dispose of the waste properly.

By simply prying up the four manhole covers which provide access to the entire system, one can see the culprit. A thin trail of liquid pours from the third tank, runs down under the west parking lot (hence the smell), and travels north past the Eliza R. Snow Center for the Performing Arts and into the city’s sewers.

Although attempts have been made, no one has figured out how to mask the foul stench.

“We’ve tried several companies that said, ‘We’ve got the answer!’ and nothing works,” Steel said. “I’m sure there’s something that helps, but ...” Whatever that something is, the school hasn’t found it yet.

One solution, proposed by a group of English 316 students, suggests that filtering the wastewater from the MC before it goes down the drain would help the problem.

Food particles would then be disposed of as normal refuse instead of getting into the grease trap where they decompose and create the noxious odor.

Chris Mann, production supervisor for Food Services, claims the waste water from the MC is already being adequately filtered by a massive garbage disposal affectionately dubbed “Mad Max.”

All food from the Galley is run through it and the solid particles are strained, chopped and dumped into regular black plastic garbage bags.

“The smell is just grease,” Mann said.

Although many want to eliminate the smell, Steel said he believes that nothing major will be done until the MC is remodeled later this year.