Meet the man who has kept Van Andel Arena clean for 30 years

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – When the lights went down, Rick Szczepaniuk’s work began.

Concert after concert and game after game, as thousands of attendees shuffled out of Van Andel Arena, the head custodian would hustle to get the arena looking brand new again.

Sweeping up hair after girl-dominated pop shows, mopping up spilled beer from the concourse and picking up trash from underneath thousands of seats were all in a night’s work for Szczepaniuk.

These days, the 66-year-old is in more of a managerial role, starting his day at 8 a.m. to clean the arena while his crew members take on the late-night shifts.

But for as long as Van Andel Arena has been around, Szczepaniuk has been there cleaning it.

Szczepaniuk has been the head custodian at Van Andel Arena for three decades, helping keep the 12