Pillar for Positive Change: Celebrating GRAM’s New Creative Learning Center
Founded in 1910, the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) permanently displays a collection of more than 6,000 pieces and hosts several travelling exhibits as well as a Michigan Artist Series. Its traveling exhibits have garnered GRAM with a reputation as a regional art destination, competing with cities such as Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis, and the museum itself acts as an international destination for patrons of the arts. But GRAM is more than just a museum, serving the community as an art gallery, resource and an institute of education; it is a pillar for positive change.
Dedicated to “leading and inspiring West Michigan to be the most creative and imaginative community,” GRAM enlisted the services of Rockford Construction to reimagine and expand the Creative Learning Center to further enhance the GRAM visitor experience. The Center will offer a variety of interactive creative activities for guests of all ages. The new Discovery Gallery, classrooms, Welcome Center and volunteer lounge will facilitate more opportunities for community members and visitors alike to connect first-hand with the art. Completed by Rockford’s trades team, the renovation of the Creative Learning Center improved accessibility and expanded the Center’s capacity and capabilities.
Relocating the Creative Learning Center entrance to the main level of the museum created more accessibility to the classrooms and separated the educational space from the gallery spaces. By cutting a hole through the 10” thick concrete floor, the Rockford team installed a new stairway that created a more cohesive path across the West Wing’s three stories. Roof leaks as well as condensation issues caused by the humidity levels needed to maintain the artwork required our team to replace the roof with an inverted roof system where the membrane lays directly on the deck below the insulation and stone pavers. These upgrades created a more comfortable and flexible space for the GRAM team to host creative programs as well as events.
The newly updated Creative Learning Center brings more immersive opportunities to the community, and the renovation and expansion of the Center has increased the dedicated education space by 50%. “This will be a great place for future generations of children to learn and experience art in its truest form,” said Patrick Wilhelm, senior project manager on Rockford’s trades team. The 4,500 sq. ft. space will host school groups, tours and art camps as well as a variety of museum events. The new space will bring learning and creative opportunities to the community that GRAM has already had a profound impact on.
Anchoring the end of Monroe Center, GRAM has been key to the transformation of the once neglected street. Since the city’s founding, Monroe Avenue has unofficially served as Grand Rapids’ main street, seeing much transformation including the Monroe Avenue Extension Project and later the unsuccessful pedestrian mall. In 1999, Rockford kicked off the redevelopment of Monroe Center and in the early 2000s provided construction management services for the new museum building as it moved from the former Federal Building on Pearl Street to its current position on Monroe. The reinvention of the museum designated GRAM as a world-class destination for art, and has had an average economic impact of $12.4 million on the greater Grand Rapids area. This influx of visitors has turned Monroe Center into a thriving magnet for commerce and quality of life, and is a vibrant urban destination that draws the community in with places to live, work, play, eat, shop and embrace art.
Relocating provided GRAM with a new opportunity to increase sustainability not only in design but in function as well. The facility’s design had to be thoughtful to meet the requirements for air quality, lighting and climate control that ensures the health and longevity of the art. Features such as the building envelope, light planning, air filtration systems, climate control systems and rain recycling, significantly reduced the carbon footprint, and GRAM achieved LEED Gold Certification – the first museum in the nation to do so. Not only will the sustainability of GRAM benefit the Grand Rapids community for generations to come, but it will also benefit additional communities as it stands as physical proof that the health and longevity of the environment does not have to be sacrificed for that of art.
As GRAM continues to serve the West Michigan community and beyond, Rockford team members who worked on the most recent renovation understand they are making an impact in our community and on the legacy of the museum. “GRAM is a distinctive building that I’m proud to now be a part of,” said foreman Zachary Ford.
