Culver to the Max

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Culver to the Max LogoThursday, July 21st, Culver had their evaluation from the various state agencies on their Stellar Communities application. I have been involved with this project from the beginning and on Thursday I not only served as a golf cart driver, but also as a presenter at a couple of the sites. For those of you that might be interested I thought I might give my impressions of the day and a brief synopsis of what happened.

Council President Ginny Munroe's Introductory Remarks
Council President Ginny Munroe’s Introductory Remarks

Thursday was the culmination a lot of work but it all came together at 9:00 at the Depot in the park. Twenty representatives from OCRA, IHCDA, IAC, INDOT, Serve IN, IOTD, ISDH, and DNR arrived at the Depot along with many of our local regional partners. Representatives from Marshall County, City of Plymouth, Argos, Bourbon, MCEDC and many others showed up to show how important this was not just to Culver but to our surrounding area. Blueprints on each of the seven projects were given to the attendees. These were the boiled down bullet points from the overall investment plan that was submitted last month. Mark Damore Jr. then made introductions and briefly warmed up the crowd before introducing the Town Council President, Ginny Munroe, who gave a speech on what Culver to the Max meant, how it evolved, and a bit of her personal story on coming back to Culver. That was followed by Jonathan Leist giving a very brief synopsis of the projects.

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Culver Stellar Information Session

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Stop by the back room of the Lakehouse Grille tonight from 6:30 to 8:00 for an open house to find out more about Culver Stellar Plans.  Town council member Tammy Shaffer and Town Manager Jonathan Leist will be there to answer questions about our application for the state program, how the program works, and what projects are including in our plan.

We will have a map of the proposed trail route around the lake (draft version), floor plans and site layout options for the beach lodge, and a site plan for the Sandhill Farm Housing development, plus more on display.

Circle of Peace

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Gary Lee Price Circle of PieceWe were fortunate enough to be allowed to help install a “Circle of Peace” sculpture by Gary Lee Price last week. That’s one of the things that keeps our job interesting… We never know what we’ll be asked to do! Similar to installing “The Lorax“, our relocation of the Veteran’s Memorial Monument at Fletcher Cemetery and various installations for the Charley Creek Foundation, we’ve been called on to do these things because our clients recognize that we will treat these pieces with the respect and care they deserve.

Circle of Peace - Lift 1The sculpture weighs approximately 750 lb and came in two pieces. It traveled from the foundry in Utah in the back of a pick up truck. At the wheel was Isaiah Price, the sculpturer’s son. He said the looks and reactions you get from fellow drivers can be quite amusing at times. Fortunately we were able to use a forklift to get the two pieces off of the truck, but from there it was an Egyptian Style move (Strong Backs, Weak Minds), up a set of stairs and about the length of a bowling alley across the lawn to their new home.

Circle of Peace - MountingBecause this was a landscape setting on a green roof location, the sculpture was set in concrete pavers to spread the weight. A template was sent to us ahead of time so we could place and leveled on the concrete pavers. The sculpture was dry set on the pavers to make sure of the location, then the bases were marked and drilled so that they could be anchored in place. (Dowel pins were screwed into the feet – see right) All in all the sculpture had to be set, removed and reset three times before all was said and done. The whole process took about an hour. Thanks to Scott Bennett and Abree Gonce for staying overtime to accomplish this as the delivery didn’t arrive until about 5:20 in the evening.

Circle of Peace - SetWe had discussed several locations with the client and ended up with a location in a planting bed where the sculpture will be somewhat hidden from one direction and “revealed” as guests proceed down the walking path or look out across the walk from the home. This often creates a more dramatic vision or as I was taught in school, the difference between a Vista and a View… In any case, once the landscaping is realigned around the piece, it will look like it has always been there. Very cool!