Pontiac Athletics Renovation Featured on Cick On Detroit “Something Good” Series

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For the first time in 30 years, a bond passed for the School District of the City of Pontiac, the capital bond improvements included many upgrades and renovations. Part of the capital bond improvements are the new urethane track, and artificial turf field are that IDS has been working with the School District of the City of Pontiac. Pontiac High School Athletics Field has existed for many years. In previous years, it was Pontiac Northern High School until 2009, when Pontiac Northern and Pontiac Central merged. Now, this field is being updated and envied by others. The new “Phoenix” field is to be complete fall of 2021.

To check out more about the new Athletic Field Renovation Click Here!

News Article

 

Be sure to check out the Something Good Article from Click on Detroit!

 

Adrian La Tona

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  1. Tell me an interesting fact about yourself.
    • I’ve seen five volcanoes in person and one eruption! We were on the coast at the time as a storm blew in, all of a sudden, we heard a loud boom as red hot magma shot out the top of the volcano against the dark sky. It felt like we were in a movie.
  1. Why did you go into your profession?
    • I discovered architecture through books. I pulled a random book off a library shelf one day, and it turned out to be a copy of Charles Moore’s monograph. I became infatuated with the house he built for himself in California. The drawings, the renderings, the details! I did not know that a building could do those things. So, I kept the book and still have it to this day. I flip through it every now and again as a reminder.
  1. What is your greatest strength?
    • Curiosity.
  1. What is your greatest personal achievement (not related to work)
    • Even though I work on athletic projects, I’ve never been much of an athlete. I’m quite the opposite.  The first time I ran ten miles, though, I felt like I truly accomplished something great. I’ve been running consistently ever since.
  1. What is your greatest professional achievement? (related to IDS)
    • Whatever project I’m working on next. Every project has its triumphs and struggles, it’s important to me to ensure that I grow with each one. That being said, having worked on the largest college indoor practice facility in the country at UND isn’t half bad either.
  1. What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
    • I enjoy anything and everything having to do with a guitar. Whether it is playing, building, or listening, count me in!
  1. What motivates you?
    • Travel has always been a big part of my life. I find exploring new places and collecting experiences both motivating and cathartic.
  1. What is your #1 professional goal?
    •  I want to design good buildings, ones that deeply impact people. The type of building that sticks in someone’s mind and inspires them in their own life.

   “We still do not know what a building can do” – Michael Menser on Lebbues Woods

Mark Reaves

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  1. Tell me an interesting fact about yourself.
    • I was a below average swimmer in high school but somehow ended up on a relay team that set a varsity record my senior year.  It was broken again later in the year by another group of four, but I still have the certificate saying I set a varsity record.
  1. Why did you go into your profession?
    • I grew up on a street where the first four houses were identical, but the four families couldn’t have been more different.  One was a family of four with a horse in their back yard.  The next house one of the individuals was wheelchair bound.  In the third house was an older couple with no kids, and there were seven of us in ours.  Why we all lived in the exact same house was always perplexing to me and I knew there had to be something better out there.
  1. What is your greatest strength?
    • Related to our profession, design projects are started because their completion will be a solution to a problem.  The trick is being able to decipher what problem(s) they are trying to solve.  I’ve been told my greatest strength is being able to uncover problems that others don’t realize existed so projects can be designed to address them.
  1. What is your greatest personal achievement (not related to work)
    • Becoming an Eagle Scout at the age of 17.  I would give up my college degrees before I gave that up.  It has opened more doors for me than anything else I have achieved and gave me the confidence to get to where I am today.
  1. What is your greatest professional achievement? (related to IDS)
    • Being able to renovate the locker room at Notre Dame Stadium.  When Lou Holtz was coach, he asked the University for funds to renovate it at that time, but they refused as they wanted to keep the original locker room that Knute Rockne built.  He didn’t get that opportunity after winning a national title for Notre Dame, but we did!
  1. What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
    • I just enjoy spending time with my wife and kids.  Both my kids are in travel sports (fastpitch softball and baseball) and supporting them at their games has been a great experience over the last four years.
  1. What motivates you?
    • I am motivated by opportunities that generate significant and meaningful change.  The pace of change in our lives appears to be happening faster and faster and the spaces we live and work in can either be designed to support this change or designed to resist it.  Both options are compelling to me but just matching the status quo is not.
  1. What is your #1 professional goal?
    • The goal (dream) that I have had for some time is to design a new Major League Baseball Stadium.  There are only so many opportunities that come up for this one, so it is a long shot but definitely a goal!

 

“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.” – Lao Tzu

Nicholas Furgason

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  1. Tell me an interesting fact about yourself.
    • I started working in the industry as an Architectural CADD technician and worked as a job captain and small project manager for 4 years before I decided to go to school for electrical engineering. I did not switch to EE until my first semester of my internship.
  1. Why did you go into your profession?
    •  I fell into this industry after I participated in an experimental ‘school to work’ program with a Timber Frame Design Firm. After high school, I went to a community college and pursued a degree in CADD. After a few diverse types of positions working in CADD, I found a home with an Architecture Firm and have been in the industry ever since.
  1. What is your greatest strength?
    • I have always been a detail-oriented person. My background in architecture gives me a unique perspective while working as an electrical designer.
  1. What is your greatest personal achievement (not related to work)
    • Raising my kids (well, still in progress technically).
  1. What is your greatest professional achievement? (Related to IDS)
    • I had the amazing opportunity to participate in IDS’s recent projects with the University of Notre Dame.
  1. What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
    • I enjoy photography and several outdoor activities. My most recent hobby seems to be renovating my house.
  1. What motivates you?
    • Honestly, I have never actually been sure of specific things that motivate me. I have always considered myself a “motivated person,” though. I think that the simplest thing would be to say that “success,” or “seeing a finished product” would be my primary motivations in life.
  1. What is your #1 professional goal?
    • I would like to finish my EE degree.

“To give anything but your best is to waste the gift”  –  Steve Prefontaine

Two Great Students Receive 2021 Integrated Design Solutions Scholarship

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Shawn Jones and Kymarria Rouser, have been selected as the recipients of the 2021 Integrated Design Solutions Scholarship with the School District of the City of Pontiac. The scholarship provides funds to students who plan to attend a college or university in Fall 2021. The students must also be pursuing engineering or post-secondary education in STEM. Integrated Design Solutions has proudly provided architecture and engineering services to the district for years and is committed to helping students succeed after high school. Congratulations Shawn and Kymarria!

Pontiac Scholarship
Pontiac Scholarship

 

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