Category: Weigand News

From K-12 to Construction: Dr. Diane Woodworth’s Story

Posted on September 30, 2022

An Excerpt from our Q3 Newsletter

My name is Diane Woodworth, and I serve as the Business Development Education Specialist at Weigand Construction. During my K-12 career, I was a high school mathematics teacher, school counselor, and principal. I also served in various roles in district offices, retiring as the superintendent of Goshen Community Schools. I enjoyed each of the roles I had in public education, as I believe good education can truly change the trajectory of young lives!

During my career, I oversaw over $100M in projects utilizing a wide variety of delivery methods. At Goshen, a referendum was passed to build a new intermediate school as well as an addition to our high school. We utilized the delivery method known as CMc (Construction Manager as Constructor) to build these projects and chose Weigand Construction as our construction manager. I became a big fan of both CMc and Weigand during that final construction project before my retirement. It was the most transparent, efficient, and pain-free of all the projects I have ever been involved in.

Every Weigand employee I met demonstrated high levels of honesty and responsibility. I was not surprised at all when I began working for Weigand to find that our company values integrity tremendously. I have greatly enjoyed being part of a team that continues to “Build landmarks that impact the lives and communities we serve.”

Dr. Diane Woodworth
Business Development Education Specialist

Levan-Scott Academy Project Breaks Ground

Posted on September 15, 2022

“A significant impact to the educational programming here in southeast Fort Wayne…we think it’s well overdue…we’re serving our students in our community”
Dr. Mark Daniel (FWCS Superintendent)

New Beginnings

Earlier this month, we officially broke ground at Levan Scott Academy. With Weigand serving as the construction manager as constructor, this moment marked the beginning of a 43,456 square foot renovation and expansion!

Once the project is done, the school will have:

State-of-the-art heating and cooling systems
Updates to the vents and airways
Specialized, energy-efficient lighting
Nineteen new classrooms
A media center
A cafeteria
Supplementary spaces

A Much-Needed Addition

The final product will be a building that gives space to house more students, and provides extra rooms dedicated to their development. A few of these future rooms have unique learning experiences with art and music designed in the layout! Parents were also considered during the planning phase. As a result, more parking spots and a pick-up lane will be added to help with traffic.

A Leader’s Legacy

The Academy is named after Dr. Levan R. Scott, who was Fort Wayne’s first Black Principle in 1965. He faithfully worked with Fort Wayne Community Schools for 28 years. He advocated for civil rights and equality for students and staff during his time of service. For this reason, FWCS continues to honor the memory of his legacy through the school.

Better Service to a Growing Community

“This addition allows Scott Academy to better serve the community, which is the fastest growing area in Fort Wayne Community Schools,” said FWCS Superintendent, Dr. Mark Daniel, while speaking at the groundbreaking. With this in mind, we can’t wait to finish this new and improved Levan-Scott Academy to benefit southeast Fort Wayne!

New Expansion Topped Out – Parkview Kosciusko

Posted on August 23, 2022

“It will be a place where hopefully they feel like their loved ones can come and receive care, and they feel like they’re safe while they’re there.”
Scott Gabriel (President, Parkview Whitley, Kosciusko Hospitals)

The Cherry on Top

Celebrating the successful completion of the Parkview Kosciusko hospital addition’s frame, we put together a special, final beam. Once we had it primed and ready for signatures, it was signed by everyone who is involved in this project. After that, the tower crane lifted the last piece, where our team secured it. And with that, the construction of the expansion framework was complete!

Watch our team top off the steel right here!

For the County

For Parkview leadership, this accomplishment is a testament to the community that they are serving. “Those grateful patients are always the key to what keeps us going,” says Scott Gabriel (President of Parkview Whitley and Kosciusko Hospitals). This expansion has been an ask by the Warsaw community for years. It will provide more accessibility for patients in the area to receive medical treatment. In the past, residents of Warsaw had to travel to neighboring counties for serious care. However, with the addition of this new section, that problem will remain what it was: a thing of the past.

“We opened up six years ago; the community immediately began asking, ‘When are you going to have inpatient beds; when are you going to have surgery?’ …To be able to say we’ve topped off our expansion project to include those services and more is great.”
Jeffrey Rockett (V.P. of Outpatient Services)

Just like the team at Parkview, we’re so excited to see the progress on this new section! We’re honored to join forces with them once again to meet the needs of this county.

Now Open – The Amp Lab @ Electric Works!

Posted on August 22, 2022

“We’re not just preparing students for jobs; we’re preparing them for careers that haven’t even been developed yet.”
Riley Johnson (Amp Lab Director)

A New Kind of Education

Think-tanks, group projects, and cooperation are in the works at the new FWCS Amp Lab! Built as part of the Electric Works expansion/renovation project, Weigand operated as the construction manager, making sure that every section went up as planned and on time. The Amp Lab is a special school program that is available for up to four hundred juniors and seniors that attend any of the five FWCS high schools.

With the goal to prepare students for an ever-changing workplace, it functions as a space where students can focus their passion and creativity. By tapping into what inspires them, these members of the future working world can grow as a team. Since collaboration is a central value of the Amp Lab, the construction design is geared towards wide, open concept learning suites. Therefore, students have the room to develop and contribute together.

State-of-the-Art Learning Environment

The Lab features all kinds of collective spaces where students can work, study, and create with one another:

Indoor greenhouse
Media production lab
Wood/Fabrication shop
Music production studio
Collaborative halls
Conference rooms
Classrooms

Get a tour of the Amp Lab below in our Electric Works Construction Update!

(Amp Lab featured at 0:41)

We’re so excited to partner with FWCS on this venture as they invest in a brighter future for their students!

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SCAN Duck Race – The Results Are In!

Posted on August 19, 2022

Ducks up the River!

We had lots of fun watching thousands of colorful ducks make a splash on the St. Mary’s River during the 34^th annual Weigand Construction Duck Race to benefit SCAN this year! We had up to 15,000 ducks starting from the Wells Street Bridge and floating towards the finish line. In the end, we were able to help fundraise over $220,000 for SCAN!

Watch the race right here!

For Children and their Families

SCAN’s mission is to protect children from abuse and neglect by supporting families navigating through times of need. With the help of local businesses and people from all over our area, the money donated will go directly towards the services they give to the community. Their offering includes counseling, education, intervention programs, and prevention training. Here at Weigand, we are proud to be able to stand alongside SCAN; it’s an honor to partner with them in their charge to serve our community. With everyone’s support, their work is making it a safer, healthier place for children and their households to grow and flourish!

A giant THANK YOU to everyone who came out this year to watch the race, sponsor ducks, rally your support around SCAN, and advocate for a better future for kids in our community!

New Expansion – The Huntington County Jail

Posted on August 2, 2022

“The group at Weigand have been fantastic to work with, I couldn’t imagine working with a different provider.”
Chris Newton (Huntington County Sheriff)

More Space to Serve

The Huntington County Jail is now equipped to better impact inmates, families, and the community at large through the completion of its new expansion and renovation! With Weigand operating as the general contractor on this project, the county sheriff commissioned development of the prison to fulfill the need for more space.

The 30,000 square foot expansion includes:

Enough rooms and bunks to host 233 people.
Sleeping and communal areas.
A tower for monitoring security with efficiency.
A vehicle port to improve transportation and processing.
A kitchen overhaul to account for the influx of staff and inmates.
Classrooms for rehabilitation programming.
Space for indoor and outdoor recreation.

With these additions to the jail, the sheriff’s department will be able to move forward with several different initiatives:

Provide a safer environment for inmates and staff.
Implement GED programming.
Facilitate rehabilitation care.
Host Church gatherings.
Teach spiritual classes.

The objective is to create an atmosphere that fosters growth in learning, skills, and overall welfare. In this way, the jail can set up inmates for success in the real-world, making their first offense their last offense.

Everything in its Right Place

Because this project involved renovation and expansion, we helped with rearranging some of the equipment in the old and new spaces. As a result, it took some extra planning and teamwork with the Sheriff’s Department to make sure everything got placed in the right spots. By doing this, we were able to keep on track with our project schedule!

We were honored to work alongside the Sheriff’s Department and help give a new lease on life to their facility!

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The Noble County Annex Building – New Construction Project Reveal

Posted on June 24, 2022

Delivered On Time

As of this June, the Noble County government began transitioning many of its offices into the newly complete Noble County Annex building! Serving as the construction manager for this project, the Weigand team worked with Noble County commissioners to ensure that task planning was completed as intended – even with the global pandemic shaking things up throughout the process. By regularly reworking and sticking to the plan, we were able to finish this 40,000 square foot project on time. In spite of the disorder caused by the pandemic, we executed on our commitments!

The new building consolidates 16 different county offices into one area, improving the interconnection between departments. It holds rooms such as:

Dispatch call center
Conference rooms
Multipurpose space
Commissioners’ meeting room
Event plaza
Mixed-use sections
Employee lounge

See what it looks like on the inside!

Plenty of Room

The building houses spaces for a majority of the county departments including:

The Treasurer
The Public defender
The Prosecutor
The Auditor
The Recorder
Deputies
The Investigator
Caseworkers
The Assessor

The annex sits just across the street from the historic Noble County Courthouse, which will be receiving its own set of renovations in the coming fall months. So, soon enough, the whole campus will be ready to serve the needs of the region for years to come!

All in the Family

We had a chance to chat about the job with Jason Schoeff, our superintendent on this project. For him, this building held some special history. The annex is in Albion, IN, which is where he lives. “This is a pretty important job for me as this is my hometown; it had a lot of significance to me,” said Schoeff. His family has been pouring into this town for many years now. In other words, this makes him the third generation to carry on the legacy. “The building that stood here previously was the old prosecutor’s office, which was built in part by my father and grandfather.”

We love to see our team members from all over making a difference right where they live. Great work Jason!

Weigand is thrilled to support Noble County by providing a landmark designed to impact the community for the better!

New Build – The Henry County Jail

Posted on June 17, 2022

“When…building a new jail, the first thing that comes to mind is how in the world am I going to be able to oversee this and make this work? And I can tell you, Weigand took care of that for me.”
Ric McCorkle (Henry County Sheriff)

A New Location with More Room

The Henry County Jail functions as an expanded space that facilitates rehabilitation for inmates in the surrounding region. With Weigand serving as construction manager for this project, the team went to great lengths to create a facility that could fully house the operating staff, inmates, and administrative team all in one structure. Part of a relocation effort, the jail was moved from its original spot off North 12th Street in New Castle. As a result, it now shares its campus with the New Castle Correctional Facility.

Check out the Detention Center Here!

The jail now includes additions such as:

Space for 246 inmates
ADA cells
Interview rooms
Refitted kitchen
Laundry facilities
Weight room
Armory
Expanded garage space
Special security observation deck
Brand-new educational section

In the teaching area, instructors host classes on substance abuse. This is part of a new program that was requested and backed by many of the residents in Henry County.

This updated build brings with it some considerable enhancements. All of them intend to improve the quality of life for everyone in the facility. Hence, officers, healthcare workers, and office staff can effectively perform their work. Not only that, but it also strengthens communication within internal channels between the staff. The sheriff’s department at Henry County Jail is well-equipped to impact its community for the better. By focusing their resources on in-house development, they can help inmates reclaim their lives through security, education, and recovery.

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New Build – The Miami County YMCA

Posted on March 19, 2022

“If there’s a time when we ever needed a new YMCA in Miami County, this is it…”
Mark Demchak (YMCA Director)

Residents of Miami County walked through the doors of their newly operational community YMCA location for the first time in February of this year. Weigand handled the project between all the parties involved as the construction manager. In helping to establish this new landmark, locals of Peru, IN can gather and grow together! Built just east of Peru West City Park, the new facility sits along the Wabash River.

It houses a number of features:

Basketball courts
Indoor track
Pool
Weight-room
Treadmills
Racquetball
Rooms for groups and classes
Lockers
Office space

Take a tour of the YMCA right here!

A New Home for the Practice

In addition, the 65,000-square-foot structure is also part of a relocation project for the Logansport Memorial Peru Medical Center. The rooms designed for the new location provide more adequate space for updated labs and equipment. As a result, the onsite practitioner and staff are enabled to offer several types of services. These include:

Dermatology
Podiatry
OB/GYN
Orthopedics
Injury screening

Moving to the new YMCA allows the medical center to attend to a greater number of people and better care for the needs of the community. With the facility now up and running, locals can enjoy all that it has to offer!

Sparks Fly as Work Continues at Electric Works

Posted on June 2, 2021

FWEW Construction April2021 36 — Crews working in Building 20, the West Campus’ oldest remaining building.

A little over four full months of hard work put into the Electric Works campus, and so much has already changed!

With a lot of the major demolition wrapping up, the Weigand team has had their hands busy tearing off old roofing materials from all the buildings, removing old flooring and concrete, and we’ve even recycled over 2,806 cubic yards of waste! One of the most noticeable of these demos was in April, there was the careful removal of all the original large windows that checkered the complex’s two towers also known as Buildings 26 and 19. Currently, teams are beginning work on masonry restoration and reroofing efforts throughout Dynamo Alley. Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing are also starting to take shape in some of the buildings.

In other exciting news, the official announcement naming the Union Street Market was revealed earlier this month! Upon the finish of Electric Works’ Phase 1, it will mark Northeast Indiana’s first food hall and public market, where it will also become the permanent home of the Fort Wayne’s Farmer’s Market.

By seeing all of the progress that’s happening at Electric Works every day, we can’t wait to see that energy carry on to its new life as a thriving community center that will truly be an electrifying addition to Fort Wayne.