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Vierbicher Receive Top Project Award
For Converting Vacant Wal-Mart
Reedsburg, WI
– Vierbicher Associates’ Meg Roback was honored for
her design of the Centralia Center in Wisconsin Rapids,
converting a vacant Wal-Mart to a thriving senior center.
The Centralia Center was honored by the
Daily Reporter (publisher of Wisconsin Builder magazine) as
one of Wisconsin’s Top Projects of 2003. An awards ceremony
took place last week in Waukesha. Projects were recognized for
overcoming unique challenges with exceptional teamwork.
The 65,000-square foot building includes
29,100-square feet for the Park Place Adult Day Services,
Lowell Senior Center, and the Aging Resource Center of Wood
County. An additional 19,000-square feet is available for
lease.
The vision was two fold -
break down the big box and create a festive environment for
the seniors. Covered porches and varied massing reduce the box
to visually digestible elements. The porches relate to human
scale, forming a vista overlooking outdoor activities.
Skylights and window walls infuse the spaces with daylight,
creating a layer of transparency through the once opaque box.
Inside, festivities such as arts, crafts,
billiards, and card playing are arranged around an indoor
walking circuit to promote physical well-being and social
interaction. Warm colors, whimsical curves, and varying
ceiling heights add spirit to the atmosphere.
The momentum created by this project is
leading to other redevelopment projects in Wisconsin Rapids’
downtown.
Vierbicher Associates’ planning and
community development department secured a $750,000 Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) award for the project. That, in
addition to an $800,000 private fund-raising campaign, helped
fund the $3.6 million reconstruction. Wisconsin Rapids based
Altmann Construction Company served as general contractor.
Accurate. Courteous. Responsive. Founded in
1976, Vierbicher Associates, Inc. offers landscape engineering, and planning services to
clients via four Wisconsin offices. Other services include
surveying/GIS mapping, community/economic development, and
water resources.
Vierbicher Associates’ core values embrace
honest and open communication, teamwork, and integrity -
actively seeking enthusiastic clients who wish to develop a
strategic partnership to accomplish their goals. Clients who
work with the firm benefit from a focus on consistent, timely,
and complete services.
Projects include municipal/civic buildings,
public safety (police, fire, EMS), senior centers,
commercial/retail, adaptive re-use, and multi-family housing.
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