The structure stands tall on Western Michigan University’s Engineering Campus, a 120-foot stainless steel spire visible from the nearby US-131 highway.
Question-asker Nancy Kalinowski of Kalamazoo was familiar with it, like many engineering students who walk past it every day.
But Kalinowski didn't know its name or what it was supposed to represent.
Neither did WMU’s art department, which keeps records on the many art installations on campus.
The question's next stop was WMU's engineering department. A staff member said the department had received this question many times before, but had yet to find any answers.
One might think they could be found at the structure itself, but there was nothing to identify it. No sign. No signature. Not even a name plate.
That's when Pete Strazdas stepped in to provide some answers.
An icon and a river of concrete
Strazdas is now retired, but he worked at WMU for over four decades. During his career at Western, he was an assistant professor of engineering and the associate vice president of WMU's Facilities Management. Strazdas also served six terms as the Mayor of Portage.
We met at Elson S. Floyd Hall, and as I made my way towards the spire, Strazdas pointed out dark gray concrete on the sidewalk beneath us, which I had yet to even notice.
“This colored concrete here, as you can see —it was a little darker back in the day — but this represents a river that meandered through the icon.”
The icon is the name of the structure, and the “river” Strazdas mentioned is an angular path of dark gray concrete that leads from Floyd Hall across the road and to the base of the spire.
“The artist of the time wanted to make sure that this was representing some of the water flows of Greater Kalamazoo and the water flowing through this iconic characteristic.”
And the water references don't stop there. Behind the spire, as the structure gives way to a large grass lawn, three concrete pads sit detached from the spire, like islands in a sea of grass, which Strazdas said represents the many ponds that feed into the Kalamazoo River.
The man behind the spire
Strazdas said the Icon was built alongside Floyd Hall, which was known as simply the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences when it opened in 2003.
“We wanted to make sure there was some art here. And so, we did commission the architect at the time and that was Rosetti Architects of Birmingham, Michigan,” Strazdas said.
That firm, Rosetti Architects, put me in touch with William Alstrom, the retired chief designer behind Floyd Hall and the Icon.
“We wanted to create a landmark and the landmark that could be seen during the day and the night," he said.
To be seen at night, Alstrom said lights were installed, which could change colors.
This feature is no longer in use, according to Strazdas, due to the cost of maintaining it.
But there’s still one additional feature of the installation: a long, roughly 10-foot-tall brown metal wall that sits just behind the spire on the opposite side from Floyd Hall.
“That was initially painted a bright red. And it made the piece stand away from the college,” Alstrom said.
The university eventually repainted it brown and gold, adding its logo and “College of Engineering and Applied Sciences” on both sides of a large opening in the wall which Alstrom said served to block some of the structure while revealing a glimpse of the rest.
“It was a bit of thinking that you could see a portion of this vertical structure through the horizontal wall. And then when you drove around you would see the whole structure.”
Back at Floyd Hall, Strazdas said he understands how information about the structure could have been lost to time despite its relatively recent construction.
“Students are only here four, maybe five years and they see a small part of campus. They hear about certain stories. They hear a small part of the history of this great institution.”
Strazdas added that he’s happy to know the background of the Icon structure will now be, like the spire itself, easy to find.
“So, people can appreciate it, understand it, and maybe come out here and take a look at it and experience this because it is part of our history.”
Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.
