When the Pulaski County Public Library were planning a renovation project, they asked that we consult with them on the design. We worked with the Library Director, MacKenzie Ledley, her staff and KRM Architects as they worked to improve the facilities. When it came time to bid the project, we were forced to decline; partly due to other commitments and partly due to a perceived connection that might have precluded other bidders. The library board chose to extend our consulting services to include input on the bidding and then through the construction process. We were happy to do this. Sometimes owners need another set of eyes and someone that can interpret construction terms, best practices, etc.
Open House Invitation
The project was bid in 2019 and started late that year, so much of the construction occurred during the worst of Covid. This helped the general contractor, Michiana Contracting, on one hand, by freeing up more of the building for work (since the library was closed), but also added the complications everyone experienced with labor issues, material shortages and Covid restrictions. We felt like our input was valuable in navigating some of these issues. The note below provides some validation to that. It’s always nice when our efforts are appreciated. Thanks MacKenzie!
Note from Library Director, MacKenzie Ledley
One of the areas that the library is most proud of is the new Local History Room. Library patrons, the Galbreath family, contributed to this room and helped design it to include elements of their family home. The room is dedicated to Delores “Dee” Galbreath, an avid library patron. Much of the woodwork bears that details from her home including matching the stain used there. The ceiling has a map of the world which also harks back to the one in her home and there is a Galbreath “G” above the fireplace, matching that used throughout the family home.
Come out and see the completed project at the Open House on August 25th, 2022. It’s been a while coming, but we think you’ll be impress by this facility.
Last Summer the South Bend Elkhart Regional Partnership (SBERP), of which Marshall County is a part, announced their intention to go after READI grant dollars in much the same way they did with the Regional Cities Initiative a few years ago. Culver Sand Hill Farm was asked to participate as the developer for a project in Plymouth. Easterday Construction Co., Inc. would serve as General Contractor. This project was a small (13 unit) townhouse project on Water Street in Plymouth.
The READI program is being administered through the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and is modeled after the successful Regional Cities Initiative. The funding is designed to leverage State funds in order to bring in private funding on projects the region’s municipalities want to see move forward. It offers up to 20% READI dollars as a match against a minimum participation of 20% municipal participation and 60% private investment. This makes it difficult for larger public projects like parks, trails and social programs to move forward, where there would be no return on the private investment, but provides a great opportunity to meet other goals.
Water Street Townhomes
We were pleased that the City of Plymouth wanted to work with us on this and were happy to help, as it fit with Culver Sand Hill Farm’s continued housing efforts. While not a LIHTC project, such as The Paddocks and Riverside Commons, it was an effort to bring additional workforce housing to downtown Plymouth. This adds to Plymouth’s downtown revitalization and it would be within a block of River Park Square, the newly renovated Rees Theater, Wild Rose Moon and adjacent to downtown businesses. Thank you to Mayor Mark Senter and City Attorney, Sean Surrisi, for their vision and help moving this forward! I approached the Town of Culver to see if they wanted to do something similar. I was told that a straw pole of council members indicated there was interest and they would support our application. This came “last minute” and we spent most of a weekend putting an application together, so that Culver could benefit as well.
Water Street Townhomes Site Plan
South Bend Elkhart Regional Partnership was successful in their bid, securing $50 Million dollars for the Region. That was great news. There’s been some confusion about how this would proceed, but both projects were included in the application, so were thought to be secure. There was back and forth at SBERP on whether other projects not in the original application could be considered. In the end, it was decided they would be considered, so that opened other opportunities. It’s still unclear whether projects in the initial application will be given more weight in considerations.
Plymouth E-Hub Interior
In Plymouth, Culver Sand Hill Farm has worked with the city to put together another application for an E-Hub. This is envisioned to be an entrepreneur incubator with spaces available to encourage new business starts. This project has been on Plymouth’s radar for years and this appeared to be a perfect opportunity to move it forward. This is an exciting opportunity for the city and should be a benefit to Marshall County as a whole.
In Culver, there has been a lot of false starts and back & forth on READI. Culver Sand Hill Farm continued to support the idea presented in the original application, while making some changes to make it better. As Culver’s partner in the Stellar applications, we were ready to step up and help again. We were the only ones from Culver to attend the mandatory information meeting in Argos and were encouraged by SBERP representatives to proceed.
Culver Crossroads created a READI subcommittee, only to disband it when Culver decided not to participate in READI. (We also discussed the possibility of an E-Hub project with Culver, but the committee had different goals in mind and we couldn’t arrive at a viable project.) In the last few weeks, Culver reversed course and decided to submit a housing project application with another, out-of-town, developer rather than proceed with us. Things happen. While disappointing, pushing it without support would be foolish.
Another partner in all these applications has been Brent Martin of SRKM Architecture. He provided the graphics included here and have helped advocate for these projects. Brent has been helpful in articulating a vision for the sites we’re considering.
We’re looking forward to helping Plymouth in their efforts. We should find out if our applications were successful sometime this Fall, making these 2023-2024 projects. Wish us and the City of Plymouth luck!
Marshall County Crossroads is coordinating a ground breaking ceremony for Riverside Commons apartments in Plymouth tomorrow, November 2, 2021 at 10:30am. The ceremony will be at the site at the corner of Baker Street and Richter Road on the east side of Plymouth. Marty Oosterbahn will speak for Marshall County Crossroads. Mayor Senter will speak for the City of Plymouth and Kevin L. Berger will speak for Culver Sand Hill Farm LLC and Easterday Construction Co., Inc.
We’re hoping for a good event to kick this project off. This is just for the Plymouth portion of the project which consists of 40 units. We will have a separate ground breaking ceremony next Spring for the second part of this development, consisting of an additional 8 units in LaPaz.
Actual construction should begin quickly with erosion control and earthwork. The first units should be open within 18 months.
Easterday Construction lost another friend earlier this month. Hobart (Hobie) Martin passed away September 5th. You can read his (Impressive!) obituary here.
We met Hobie through is connection to the Veterans Memorial at Fletcher Cemetery. That connection was through his son, Architect Brent Martin, who we have worked with extensively on many projects. When I first met him, I said, “It’s nice to meet you Mr. Martin.”, to which he replied, “If we’re going to work together we should be friends. Call me Hobie!” I definitely enjoyed our time working together.
In 2014 we were contracted to move the existing memorial stone to a new location on a plaza created for it. The stone has the names of veterans carved into it and sadly was running out of space. You can find several posts about working on this project here.
Bob Cooper (ECC) and Tom Lenker placing the monument stone
Knowing this historic significance of the piece made the project a bit daunting. We ended up working with Tom Lenker to make this move as he was always one of the equipment operators I trusted most. (When someone would ask about him, I told them I would trust him to scratch an itch on my right shoulder blade with an excavator tooth without a second thought.)
While I didn’t see Hobie often after that project, I did keep track of him through Brent. He lived a long and good life and in the end, was able to pass in his home with his family there.
Memorial Day services at the new monument plaza, 2015.
The project goal was to have the project complete by Memorial Day. Several of us from Easterday Construction attended the dedication service and the Memorial Day Service that year. I stopped to check on it when I went to Hobie’s visitation and the plaza is a great tribute to his community service.
Boy Scout Headquarters at Culver Academies’ Woodcraft Camp
At the award ceremony for Ginny earlier this month, I was reminded of Culver Academies‘ connection to the Boy Scouts of America. In 2010, we built a cabin to be used as a Boy Scouts Headquarters at the far east side of the Woodcraft Camp. The picture to the right is the cabin when it was completed. You can see some pictures of the cabin under construction here.
The cabin is a scaled down version of the Woodcraft Camp sleeping cabins, following the same basic design, but including a larger porch that doubles as a project work space and a stage for presentations. The ribbon cutting ceremony for the project was scheduled to coincide with the 100 years of scouting jamboree that was held in Washington, D.C. that year.
Over the years, Easterday Construction Co., Inc. has completed many projects at Culver Academies, from new construction to major remodels. As has been discussed here before, the origins of our company are tied to the work our founder, Russell L. Easterday, did for James I. Barnes Construction in the early 1920’s. This prompted the creation of Russell L. Easterday Construction and Supply Company as a subsidiary of Barnes Construction and the gentleman’s agreement that allowed Russell to make the subsidiary his own company.
