Much more than an athletic facility, Midland Lutheran College?s new Event Center was designed as a multipurpose venue for both collegiate and community use. With careful balance, the complex plays multiple roles as sports arena, convocation center, concert hall and convention facility.
Sympathetic to the existing building in form and scale, the event center adds transparency and color to the overall composition. Located at the center of the site, a glass- and steel-framed central lobby unites the new and existing facilities. The daylit space provides the first hint of the rich mix of colors and textures at play throughout the complex, which houses the Midland Lutheran College Hall of Fame, conference rooms, offices, concessions areas and rest rooms.
From the lobby, traffic flows outward to the new and renovated spaces. In the addition, visitors are led down into the 2,000-seat arena, which is located 14 feet below grade. Complementing the arena are locker rooms, corporate suites and banquet facilities. Visitors exploring the existing athletics building encounter the new weight room, renovated meeting rooms and offices, and the newly resurfaced field house floor.
Centennial Recreation Center
