Inventrek lobby remodeled with help from students
May 18—Inventrek Technology Park, the city's incubator for startup companies, is now home to a college — Purdue Polytechnic Kokomo. So why shouldn't the 98,000-square-foot facility feel more inviting to students and the general public like many college campuses do?
That was the task Lori Dukes, manager of economic development for the Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance, sought to address shortly after she was hired in the fall of last year.
"So many new ideas and great concepts come from just happenstance, of collaboration," Dukes said. "So if we can have an environment here where people are hanging out and studying or working on a project and strike up a conversation and that ends up in an opportunity, what a great thing."
Inventrek's main lobby is now remodeled in that vein — to offer a space for students, tenants and the public to collaborate or simply take time to relax, study or grab a bite to eat or something to drink from the Hydration Station.
What was originally a nondescript main lobby with a reception desk and no place to sit, has now been transformed into a lobby one would be used to seeing at a college library, complete with sofas, multiple tables and a place to buy coffee.
Students from the Kokomo Area Career Center helped design and create the space.
Multiple programs within KACC — including welding, woodworking and architecture — worked together and alongside the Inventrek team to identify and execute a design plan.
Students crafted a large dining room-style table for the lobby space, as well as a countertop and awning for the Hydration Station, which will serve as an anchor for the space.
One of the students who worked on creating the lobby was Evan Collins, a senior at Northwestern High School. He said his teacher, Bill Blackburn, thought the project would be a real-life challenge for the students, having just a handful of weeks to make and install everything.
And a challenge is exactly what it ended up being.
Collins said the hinges on the doors of the countertop made for the Hydration Station were a particular challenging and required a few attempts to get right.
Despite the challenges, Collins said the work has been rewarding.
"It's been awesome," he said. "I'm really hands- on. ... We actually got a lot of experience. It's always a test."
Having high school students design and create the space served two purposes: to promote workforce development, a major part of what the Alliance does, and also make sure the new lobby would be attractive to young people who may be visiting the Hydration Station or going to Purdue Polytechnic.
While the Alliance wants to attract Purdue students and its tenants to utilize the new lobby, it also hopes the general public finds the space inviting as well.
"The vision we have is for a space that is encouraging for students to want to hang and learn and study and interact, as well as for our tenants, but also the public being welcome," Dukes said. " ... People like to come into a space and see that area they most identify with, and that's typically where they'll come back to."
A grand opening celebration for the new lobby is being held at 10:30 a.m. Friday with a ceremony and ribbon cutting. That's followed by games and a solar car demonstration by Purdue Polytechnic at noon in the Inventrek parking lot. There will also be a meet and greet with KAAC students who helped envision the new lobby, as well as robot demonstrations by local school robotics teams at 3 p.m.
Tyler Juranovich can be reached at 765-454-8577, by email at tyler.juranovich@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @tylerjuranovich.
