The Summit

Family oriented sports activities are the name of the game at Capital Centre, a sports, business and family entertainment village in mid-Michigan. The development will ultimately include a health and fitness center, two hotels, a conference and banquet facility, retail shops, offices and a virtual sports bar and restaurant.

The Summit building, the second sports-related building in the Capital Centre development, is a Tilt-Up winner this year. (Aim High, a basketball training and exhibition center completed in 1997, also used Tilt-Up construction.)

The Summit building has 145,000 sq. ft. slab-on-grade and an additional 31,000 sq. ft. second floor area for a total of 176,000 sq. ft. built for $50 sq. ft. It holds two indoor hockey rinks, one of which is used for a minor league professional hockey team that plays in a 13,600 seat hockey and concert area.

There are also two indoor soccer fields that can be rolled up to create space for trade shows and conventions, and a 30,000 sq. ft. common area with a pro shop, two concession areas, meeting rooms, offices, and an assortment of video games.

The owner of The Summit is Larry Clark of Lansing, MI. General and Tilt-Up contractor was Clark's firm, L.D. Clark Building Co. LJB, Inc. of Dayton, OH, served as both architect and engineer for the project.

The project was completed on time and under budget, and Tilt-Up was a major factor in getting the project completed on time. In fact, this was an excellent project to compare masonry construction to Tilt-Up from a time standpoint: there were 68,000 sq. ft. of Tilt-Up panels and 48,000 sq. ft. of masonry construction on this project, and the Tilt-Up portion was completed in less time than the masonry portion under the same conditions.

The Tilt-Up panels, a total of 133 of them, were set in 8 days.

It is noteworthy that the hockey seating areas were also constructed using the Tilt-Up concept. The concrete steps, seats and the hollow core floor plank between the two rinks were all cast on-site. A hot water heating system was installed in the seating planks to make it more comfortable for the spectators watching hockey.

Composite Technology Corporation's THERMOMASS Building Insulation System was utilized.

Overall, the average Tilt-Up panel was 15 feet wide by 34 feet tall with a total thickness (including insulation layers) of 12 3/4 inches and an average weight of 68,000 pounds.

The longest clear span in the structure is 132.5 feet. A 25-foot diameter glass dome skylight highlights the center common area.

The exterior is painted with a Benjamin Moore paint system in a blue and green two-color scheme. The architectural look was accomplished by using 3/4 inch rustication lines and painting, and the main entrance is enhanced by a glass curtain wall.