Vol. 39, No. 36
PO Box 603, Wabash, IN 46992 (260) 563-8326
of Wabash County Inc. November 16, 2016
www.thepaperofwabash.com Proudly Serving Wabash County Since 1977
MSD board gets 2 new members By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
Crews are working on the walls of a portion of Parkview Wabash Hospital. Work on the structure is on schedule and a 2018 opening is expected. Photo by Joseph Slacian
Hospital work on schedule By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
Wabash Parkview Hospital’s construction project is on schedule, officials told The Paper of Wabash County. Ground was broken on June 30, and crews began actual construction around the first of August, Project Manager Adam Whitmer said. “It’s going well,” Parkview Wabash President Marilyn Custer-Mitchell added. “It looks like we’re pretty much on time. We didn’t have rain until we started moving dirt, then we had some rain. It looks like we’re pretty much on schedule.” The foundation walls are complete for the 80,000 square-foot facility, Whitmer said, and masonry blocks are starting to go up at the site, located
southwest of Wabash Street and U.S. 24. The walls visible at the site are for the back of the hospital, including the loading docks. “It’s where all the maintenance will be, the electrical room and so forth,” Whitmer said. Structural steel will begin arriving in mid-November. “The building won’t be fully erected until January,” Whitmer said. A topping off ceremony, which signifies the last steel beam being put in place, will be sometime in January, Project Superintendent Chad Fry said. Building a hospital is similar to any major building project, Whitmer said. “You have to start from the beginning, so you start with the civil design, site design, water elevations and all
Wabash native Adam Whitmer is the project manager of the Parkview Wabash Hospital construction. Photo by Joseph Slacian
that,” he said. “What’s the dirt look like? Are we going to have good enough dirt for foundations and bearing pressure of those items? Then you move into the structural design. Once you know how the structures going to be built, then you kind of pair that up with the architectural side. You know how much room you need, now how’s it going to work. Throughout that, then you guys go through planning spaces.” While this is Whitmer’s first hospital project he is overseeing, Fry served as project manager for the Parkview Whitley Hospital building project. “Parkview Whitley is just a little bit bigger,” Fry said. “I think there’s four or five rooms difference, maybe six. Basically the layout is not the same, but the general area, structural wise,
The Metropolitan School District of Wabash County will have a new look in January. Two new members – Gary Fadil and Todd Topliff – were elected to the board in the Tuesday, Nov. 8, election, as was incumbent Kevin Bowman. Topliff was elected to the MSD Northeast District, defeating incumbent John Gouviea III, 2,873-1,711, Topliff said he is looking forward to working on the board to make MSD the best district it can be, whether it involve consolidation, reconfiguration or remaining as it is. “I hope to get a running start on Jan. 1,” he said, noting that he hopes to meet with Superintendent Mike Keaffaber in the coming weeks to discuss a smooth transition onto the board. Gouveia, on the Wabash County Consolidation Facebook page, congratulated the three winners in the district. In the Northwest District, Fadil defeated Chad Watson, 7,833-4285. (continued on page 6)
GOP dominates local election
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Wabash native oversees construction of Parkview Wabash
By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
Adam Whitmer was born at Wabash County Hospital. Now, more than 30 years later, he is tasked with an important job. Whitmer is serving as project manager in the construction of the new Parkview Wabash Hospital. “This is my first hospital,” Whitmer, who joined The Hagerman Group in February 2014, told The Paper of Wabash County.
Republicans dominated the 2016 General Election in Wabash County. In the lone locally contested race, Randy Curless, Philip Dale and Lorissa Sweet were elected to serve in the at-large seats on the Wabash County Council. The three defeated Democrat Donald Rose. Curless, an incumbent, received 8,641 votes. Sweet received 8,501, Dale 7,983 and Rose 3,866. Sweet contributes her success in the General Election to work she did prior to the May Primary Election. “We did work very hard,” she told The Paper of Wabash County. “We knocked on a lot of doors and we visited a lot of businesses. We covered a lot of ground and I think
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By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com