The donor wall at the Cambridge SportsPlex honors all those who contributed time and money to the project.
It took 140 donors to make it happen, but thanks to their dedication, the town of Fairfield, Iowa, has a new gym and pool facility that is improving its citizens’ quality of life and attracting new people to the community.
Originally built 45 years ago, Fairfield’s recreational facilities were due for an upgrade. In 2011, planning began for the multi-million-dollar Cambridge SportsPlex, and it opened in 2016. The 36,000 square-foot-space includes an indoor three-lane track, three full-size basketball courts, fitness area, exercise floor, storage, batting cages, restrooms, and showers.
After the grand opening, the SportsPlex task force committee wanted to recognize the generous donors who contributed to the project. A member of the task force, Kent Whitney, had previously worked with the PEC team and was pleased with the end result of the project. On behalf of the committee, he approached Pella Engraving Company about creating a donor recognition wall.
“I stopped in one day and showed them our ideas. They immediately took to it and got excited about the project. I knew right then we had the company we needed with the capability and passion to create our donor wall,” said Kent.
Kent already had a design in mind, and PEC was able to bring the idea to life using a three-part approach:
- Wave-inspired, curving background plates were cut on PEC’s state-of-the-art plasma cutter from 1/8″ aluminum. After color-matching the client’s artwork, these plates were painted in three shades of blue.
- 1/8″ zinc plates with a pebbled texture were cut on a band saw and painted light gray to showcase the donor list. Donor names were etched into the zinc and tipped in black.
- PEC turned to Sadler Sign and Design of Pella for the smallest lettering on the sign. The scale of the letters was too small to be handled by a plasma cutter or CNC machine. Vinyl was the perfect solution. The PEC team pre-coated the vinyl with the task force committee’s chosen shade of gray, and the individual letters were cut by Sadler Sign and Design. This lettering technique was repeated for the sign’s headline to create a cohesive and eye-catching final design.
The donor wall was installed in the Cambridge SportsPlex lobby. It perfectly fills space on a bare wall and improves traffic flow through the building. The task force committee was very pleased with the final project.
“Pella Engraving Company made what could have been a very challenging project enjoyable and stress-free,” said Kent. “The team’s professionalism and friendly and flexible demeanor made us feel like our project was the most important one on their plate.”