Downsized plans for Ziibiwing Center approved

Sarah Cummins

8/16/2001 12:00:00 AM

This model of the Ziibiwing Center was presented to Tribal Council on Aug. 7 as part of an update on the project.

Plans for a Ziibiwing Center designed to protect, preserve and present Tribal historical and cultural resources have been given final approval.

"All the components that we wanted in the pre-design are included in the new design but downscaled," explained Paul Johnson, Ziibiwing Cultural Center planner. "It will provide us with a place to store all the artifacts and archival information which tell the Tribe's story. It will also bring all the ZCS staff under one roof."

The pre-design for the Ziibiwing Center, a community-based center that will be operated by the Ziibiwing Cultural Society (ZCS), estimated the structure would be 68,800 square feet and encompass about 20 acres. Projected costs were also estimated at around $180 per square foot. After two years of planning and budget approvals, the final plans for the Ziibiwing Center include a 34,718-square-foot structure at $148 per square foot. The estimated cost is $9.3 million plus design fees.

"We are extremely happy about the support from Tribal Council," said Johnson.

"Ziibiwing is in a unique situation," Johnson said in reference to the society managing several Saginaw Chippewa Tribal gift shops. "We are striving to make the Ziibiwing Center a self-sufficient entity. The new center will have a kitchen with catering capabilities, multipurpose spaces for rent, and a new gift shop. Our intent is to create a full-service cultural center that will represent our community and tell our story in an interesting and truthful manner. Additionally, we will make efforts to acquire funding through grants, sponsorship, endowments and donations to support our programmatic efforts.

"It's really a building designed for everyone. Our mission is to educate everyone about who we are, and we wanted the building to represent the community in the best way possible."

A major portion of the new structure will be devoted to the "Permanent Exhibit." This section will recount the history of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and will encompass about 9,000 square feet.

The ZCS staff also plans to implement a membership program, special events, acquisition programs and recognition/donor wall.

In addition, the new center will include storage areas designed to minimize the adverse effects of air and light for the collections, archives and Tribal artifacts.

Although the square footage of the structure is about half of the original design, Johnson said the biggest reduction is office space. This space stresses functionality rather than excess. The Cultural Center Planning Committee wanted to make sure the new design maintained as much integrity as possible of the pre-design model.

"The building is not extravagant; it will be classy in the areas that it needs to be," Johnson told the Tribal Council at an Aug. 14 meeting where the new model was presented.

The Design and Development Phase of the project is almost complete. From the architectural perspective the next phase will include the construction drawing, tendering and actual construction of the building. During the next phase the Permanent Exhibit will complete the design development, gra-phics and specification details and the actual installation of the exhibit.

"We have moved the project along slowly to enable the ZCS structure and programs to develop the building," said Johnson. "It is important the ZCS create a building from their programming perspective rather than the building dictating what the program might be. We are taking a little more time planning than usual, because this building will be looked at for a long time."

The grand opening for the center is tentatively scheduled for winter of 2003.