Archives: Projects

With an ever-growing student population on campus, Indiana Wesleyan University’s original home for chapel services, the Performing Arts Center, ran into an issue. The Arts Center’s capacity slowly began to dip as the influx of students living on campus began to increase year over year. As awareness for this issue was raised, campus leadership drew plans for a new facility that can accommodate larger numbers for years into the future. Weigand joined the project as the Construction Manager, overseeing the entire building plan. The product of this process was the IWU Chapel Auditorium. A record-breaking job for its time in 2009, the Chapel was the largest building project in the school’s history up until that point.

Serving Many Purposes

The Chapel is an 85,000 square foot building that features a giant auditorium that seats 3,600. This is a huge step up from the original gathering place, the Performing Arts Center, which could only seat up to 1,200 people at any given time. There is a floor and balcony section that stretch over a wide area to maximize access and seating to more people at once. Due to the impressive scale of the auditorium, other uses were factored into the design. The giant stage and plentiful seating not only lent themselves well to hosting chapel gatherings, but also conferences, concerts, shows, and many other unique events.

For Ministry

As faith is a central piece of IWU’s core structure, the successful delivery of this facility creates a new home for the university’s students and faculty to worship and practice faith as one body under a single roof. The building provides a special place that promotes the unity of over 3,000 students and the professors that guide them across a 350-acre campus.  

Built to help keep their sports facility offerings on track with current needs, Hillsdale College employed Weigand as the construction manager for its new athletic center. Focused on sports like cross-country, track and field, and tennis, the Margot Biermann Athletic Center is a 70,000 square foot complex that hosts sporting events, conferences, community activities, concerts, and training for the university’s men’s and women’s athletics divisions.

Attracting Elite Talent

The Athletic Center is designed to meet a wide range of functions for several types of athletes with features such as:

• Four Acrylic Tennis Courts 
• Six-Lane, 200-Meter Track 
• Nine-Lane, Straightway Track 
• Throw and Jump Areas 
• Room For Live Events and Gatherings

Designed to adhere to NCAA requirements for championship-level competitions, the facility stands out to potential sports program candidates, demonstrating Hillsdale’s commitment to high-performance and excellent sportsmanship.

“The track oval features the NCAA’s widest-allowable inside radius (21 meters) and the NCAA’s widest-allowable lanes (48 inches). It is precisely this wide design that should allow the Biermann Center to quickly become a competitive destination for elite athletes.” – Andrew Towne, Women’s Track and Cross-Country Coach, Hillsdale College

In Loving Memory

The Athletic Center is named after the late wife of the project’s main donor, Frank J. Biermann. An alumnus who was greatly impacted by her time at Hillsdale, Margot V. Biermann was a teacher and an accomplished runner. Her passion for the sport was born while she was a student, which led her to compete in dozens of long-distance races for the rest of her life. Margot’s legacy of dedication and fervor has forever cemented her in the story of Hillsdale. Before passing on, she wanted to give back to the university that had touched her life in such a profound way. Thus, the Biermann’s became primary donors in order to make this project a reality.  

Students that do not live in the on-campus dorms have access to living spaces with modern design and feel thanks to Hillsdale College’s townhome complex. With Weigand operating as Construction Manager on this project, these new homes will provide a comfortable place for students to study, sleep, and socialize in their day-to-day activities.

The idea and funding for this complex came after Thomas Duke, a trustee at Hillsdale, saw room for improvement in the college’s housing offerings.

A Mix of Amenities

The complex consists of six units with four of them holding up to eight occupants and two up to five. These three-floor townhouses feature:

• Beautiful Entryway 
• Spacious Kitchen 
• Dining Room 
• Living Room 
• Washer and Dryer Spaces 
• Furnished Bedrooms with Private Bathrooms 
• Utility Rooms 
• Modern Design that makes use of Natural Lighting 

A Better Off-Campus Housing Experience

“It will be everything a student would want. You can move in, get to work, get to class quick and have privacy and a really nice environment.” – Thomas Duke, Hillsdale College Trustee

These townhomes set a new standard for resident life at Hillsdale, and we’re excited to see where this takes college living in the future! 

As the first new religious chapel of this magnitude in over 70 years in the United States, the construction of Christ Chapel on Hillsdale College’s campus has been a truly unique opportunity. The official dedication ceremony for the Chapel took place on October 3rd, 2019, with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas remarking:

“[College students] need a place where they can go to be relieved of their troubles and get their bearing as so much comes at them so fast. By building this chapel, Hillsdale College has provided that space where students can come to discern God’s calling, to pray through difficult times and to praise God for his faithfulness.”

Timeless, Legacy Design Details

The dedication of Christ Chapel was part of Hillsdale College’s 175th anniversary celebration. Located in the heart of the campus, between the Grewcock Student Union and Dow Leadership Center, the 27,500 square foot building is a new focal point on campus. The interior of the Chapel pays homage to the classic English church, St. Martin-in-the-Fields. The Chapel’s 64-foot painted barrel ceilings, fourteen columns, wooden pews, and arched windows give it a timeless grandeur and beauty. The floor is made up of Italian marble, with brick and limestone making up much of the structure. The entire building demonstrates masonry excellence, even featuring the largest brick, self-supporting dome ever constructed in 50 years.

Religious Construction Milestone

With seating for 1,350 and ample room for large performance ensembles, the Chapel provides Hillsdale with a much-needed venue for college ceremonies and concerts, as well as religious services. Weigand Construction is proud to have been the Construction Manager of such a monumental project, the seventh that has been completed throughout our relationship with Hillsdale College. 

First renovated and dedicated in 1988, the George Roche Sports Complex was originally the university fieldhouse which was built in 1927. In 2013, Weigand renovated the sports facility once again as a part of Hillsdale’s effort to increase capacity, improve student access, and update the environment.

“The Splex” Renovation Features

This restoration, spanning 61,000 square feet, made several additions such as:

• Student Fitness Center 
• Full Range of Cardio Machines 
• Open Exercise Areas 
• Smoothie and Snack Bar 
• Golf-Simulator Room 
• Rock Climbing Wall 
• More Office Space for Men’s and Women’s Sports 
• Extra Locker Rooms for Men’s and Women’s Sports 
• Sports Hall of Fame 
• Basketball Arena 
• Basketball and Volleyball Courts 

Benefitting the Student Body

Up until renovations were completed, the college was limited in its space offerings, especially when it came to intramural and fitness activity. By creating more room for both groups to have a place to participate, active students outside of the athletics program are now able to connect and build community in a building that facilitates spaces for their special interests.  

The renovation project also brought a full basketball arena to the complex, with generous seating for spectators on multiple levels along all four walls. This has greatly improved the gameday experience for fans and allows more people to attend sporting events.  

Weigand is proud to have served Hillsdale College and its students through this restoration project and hopes the George Roche Sports Complex continues to deliver wonderful experiences for fans, fitness enthusiasts, athletes, and more for years to come. 

The Ball State University Music Instruction Building is a massive facility dedicated to all things sonic, being one of two buildings housing the university’s School of Music. Weigand Construction was responsible for taking on the vision of this huge project and bringing it into the real world. The facility features:

• Two Performance Halls
• Teaching Studios
• Recording Studios
• Music Production Lab
• Rehearsal Spaces
• Choral, Orchestral, and Band Offices
• Libraries

We are proud to have had the opportunity to come alongside Ball State as a partner and see this amazing music building continue to support and enrich students’ learning experience to this very day.