Winning the prestigious Merit Award from the American Institute of Architects of Southwest Michigan last year brought great joy to the team at Benton Harbor-based Wightman, so you can imagine the unbridled celebration that has erupted there following their second consecutive win of that high honor in two years’ time.
Wightman was cited with their second AIA Merit Award in as many years recently for their work on the new Cassopolis Municipal Complex located in Cassopolis, Michigan.
Wightman, which is a multi-disciplinary consulting firm, created a stunning facility that adds to the sweeping transformation being undertaken in the Village of Cassopolis. In addition to the new municipal building, a redesign of the community’s downtown streetscape and creation of a new beach with lakeside boardwalk is currently in progress and slated to be completed in late May.
Greg Monberg, Wightman’s Director of Architecture, says, “Wightman is dedicated to serving our clients by building a stronger community where we live and work. It is gratifying to see our team recognized for delivering a great facility for Cassopolis.” He adds, “Our team across our services in survey, engineering, architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture created a facility that will serve the community for many years to come. Project Architect Shelby Kintz and Interior Designer Casey Bourdo deserve the recognition for their close work with the client and design talents in bringing their vision to reality.”
The municipal building was designed to incorporate all village departments, including government offices and the public works building, into one facility at one central location. The 5,500 square foot office building features a large community hall chamber where elections and meetings can be held, secure access for the police department staff, and several conference rooms and private offices. The large Department of Public Works warehouse offers 11,700 square feet of space that houses the department’s various trucks, supplies, and equipment, and allows for easy access into and out of the building, alleviating a congested parking lot.
Ms. Kintz tells us, “One of the biggest design challenges was how to fit all of the DPW equipment into one facility and have that facility not visually overpower the public office facility at the street front. Overall, I believe we accomplished this and were able to balance the two structures while conveying its municipal position in the community.”
Cassopolis Village Manager Emilie Sarratore is delighted, saying, “The Village of Cassopolis is thrilled to now be housing all of our departments under one roof at the new Municipal Complex. The collaboration with our community, our Council, and the team at Wightman provided us the opportunity to have an outstanding space that will well serve our residents and staff for many years to come.”
According to its mission, AIA Southwest Michigan seeks to recognize and publicize excellence in architecture and holds an annual call for entries for submissions in three design categories: New, Existing, and Un-built projects. Honor and Merit awards are given in each category.
Wightman has offered architecture and interior design services for over 30 years to the residential, educational, governmental, and commercial industries. For more information about architectural services, you can contact Director Greg Monberg at (269) 487-9673 or gmonberg@gowightman.com.
Wightman is a full-service consulting firm with a dynamic team of more than 130 professionals who work to analyze, advise, design, and deliver successful projects in partnership with governments, business, and institutions in the communities they serve. Services offered include Architecture, Civil Engineering, Environmental, and Surveying. Additional specialty services offered include GIS, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Planning, and Reality Capture. The firm is headquartered in Benton Harbor with additional Michigan offices in Allegan, Kalamazoo, and Royal Oak.
The AIA Southwest Michigan chapter includes the counties of Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Hillsdale, Kalamazoo, Saint Joseph, and Van Buren. The chapter was established in 1923.
