The Allen County Primary Center was programmed using a staff/user committee, led by the Assistant Superintendent, and coordinated by G. Scott. The program describes a primary center for 1,200 students–the State’s largest of that type. The challenge was to create a large facility to serve very small people without intimidating them by sheer size. This was accomplished by keeping the scale to "kid" size, and even creating a main circulation with a curve to eliminate long sight lines, as well as create continually changing views. Besides its size and scale, the building is significant because it is a geothermal HVAC system, with over 300 wells serving the facility. The bids came in $100,000 under the budget of $10.5 million for the 127,000 s.f. facility, including geothermal, and work proceeded on schedule for opening in August.
