Every building has a backstory. The Mayo Civic Center’s latest expansion is an outgrowth of an 18-year collaborative friendship developed between principal architects at two design firms: Steve Sorensen of TSP, Inc. and Ken Betsch of BetschAssociates.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to provide the client leadership for this very significant project in our city,” says Sorensen, a longtime Rochester resident and Managing Principal of TSP’s local office. The integrated architecture, engineering, and planning firm was established in Rochester in 1969 and has helped write chapters in MCC’s history since the late 1970s.
See photos from MCC’s grand opening celebration on May 4, see community reaction from the event, and read all about the expanded venue in this special section published by the Post-Bulletin.
Betsch, too, considers this a landmark achievement. “This project is one of the finest buildings I’ve had the opportunity to work on across the country. It truly fits the community,” says Betsch, Managing Principal of BetschAssociates in Greenville, S.C.
Betsch provided design leadership for the team, which developed the expansion with input from local leaders, facility operators, and meeting planners. The work began with pre-design visioning sessions in 2006. Now, the design team and partners from Knutson Construction are eager to share that sense of ownership with the greater Rochester community.
“This has been over a decade in the making and will serve the City of Rochester well for many, many years into the future,” Sorensen says.
From the “wave wall” inspired by the adjacent Zumbro River to the visual connection to downtown, TSP and BetschAssociates focused on creating a single, unified image for the destination venue along Civic Center Drive. The complex will host local and regional events, but it’s also designed to draw visitors for world-class conferences, conventions, and entertainment.
“Implementing and bringing the client’s vision to reality takes collaboration, communication, and passion,” says TSP architect Von Petersen. That’s particularly true for a project of this size and complexity.
“A building like this is what makes good cities great,” Petersen says. “We believe this will be one more element that makes Rochester and southeast Minnesota an amazing place to live, work, and play.”