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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe convention kicks off with a shotgun golf outing Sept. 14 at Pebble Brook Golf Club. After golf, attendees can tour five downtown architectural firms.
Workshops that begin the next day will follow three tracks of programs-design, community projects and professional development, Kunce said.
They will cover a variety of topics including starting a practice, building code requirements, civic initiatives and design-
About 250 architects from Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana will converge downtown Sept. 14-17 when Indianapolis hosts the American Institute of Architects Ohio Valley Region convention.
The national association has regional, state and local chapters. AIA Indiana has more than 650 members throughout the state. Debra Kunce, a program manager who oversees large, multi-building projects at locally based Schmidt Associates, is president of the state’s Indianapolis chapter.
This will be the first year Indianapolis has hosted the convention for the tri-state region. While the region is fairly new, the Indiana chapter has been around more than 100 years, Kunce said.
Convention goers are expected to contribute nearly $400,000 in direct visitor spending, said Diane Whitsitt, manager of sales administration for the Indianapolis
ing environmentally friendly buildings.
Friday night festivities include an awards ceremony at the Indiana Roof Ballroom. In the past, awards have been given for The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis Dinosphere expansion and parking structure, White River State Park Visitors Center, the Pendleton-Fall Creek Township Fire Station and the Cathedral High School Student Life Center.
Saturday will wrap up with meetings of local chapters and an award given for a student competition that’ll take place throughout the convention.
Student teams from chapters at several universities will participate in a design project on a historic site near the Ball State College of Architecture and Planning’s Indianapolis Design Center downtown.
Tours will also be available of several downtown locations, including the restored Lockerbie neighborhood and the Central Canal.
Exhibits by local architects are on display at the Harrison Gallery at 15th Street and Delaware Avenue.
“Most architects are artists as well,” Kunce said.
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