Artists Building for Artists

Project manager Mike Anderson talks to the Current about the Carmel Palladium. 


When Shiel Sexton asked Mike Anderson to be the senior project manager for The Palladium at the Center for Performing Arts in Carmel, he knew he was getting into something special. 


"This is no ordinary building. It is a monument, a landmark for central Indiana," he said, mentioning the limestone, plaster, and detail that set this unique project apart. 


Anderson stumbled down the road of construction by luck and chance 37 years ago. After working for the state highway department for a year after high school, he felt connected to construction.


 "I've been doing this since '73 and I haven't regretted one day of it," he said.


 Now Anderson, who has helped construct nuclear power plants in the past, says he is working on perhaps the most challenging--and rewarding--project of his career. In doing this, he said he's working alongside some of the most talented individuals in the state. 


Shiel Sexton has at least 200 local workers constructing The Palladium daily. According to Anderson, the fact that these workers are local makes The Palladium even more special.


 "There is a sense of pride about these workers that will trickle into the entire community," he said. "Usually workers will drive by a project years later and point it out to people and say, 'We did that.' But this project will be more than a drive by. I think the workers will pull in, stop, and go inside to show off what they have done." 


The Palladium is scheduled to be completed this fall, and Anderson described the final construction stages of the project as bittersweet.


 "You can sense and feel how special it is when you're here, and you want to finish it to see it come to life," he said. "But it will be hard to leave it when it's done."


Originally published in the Current in Carmel on July 20, 2010. Link here.