The historic campus served as a green oasis for residents and visitors alike, offering a peaceful respite from the busy Centerville traffic. A popular gathering space during lunch hours and throughout the day, the campus has also been a key venue for community events such as the lighting of the holiday lights, the Americana July 4th festivities, and many other occasions including weddings, business breakfast meetings, and neighborhood gatherings. With the popularity of the campus, the City erected a tent each spring to host events of more than 200 people and removed it each fall, while the house functioned as support space for the tent. Over time, this put a significant toll on the historic house and grounds.

The City’s goal was to expand the campus’ offerings with a new, modern event center that belongs with the historic campus and can host events for 200+ guests year-round, while preserving the integrity of the historic campus and the site’s natural features such as the pond, green spaces, gazebos, and wooded areas, thus enhancing the site’s sense of place and connection to nature.

The new facility is sited strategically to allow independent operation of both the historic campus and the modern event center. Both venues share a centralized parking area, thoughtfully integrated into the landscape. Parking is designed as a continuation of the site, with green space and tree cover throughout, rather than traditional asphalt lots. This approach preserves the park-like feel and reduces environmental impact.

The new building is constructed using glulam beams and glulam decking planks to create strong connections to the outdoors with simple, natural materials. The exterior features historic Centerville limestone and a corten standing seam roof, which extends down into corten steel slats. These slats provide privacy from the parking area while drawing visitors inward. As guests approach, the building gradually reveals itself, offering an immersive experience that feels like entering an arboretum nestled in the woods.

The structure is wrapped in nature, intentionally designed not to dominate the landscape or overshadow the historic Benham’s Grove. Though modest in scale from the outside, the event center offers a magical, immersive experience with its deep connection to nature and use of timeless, natural materials.

Enhancements to the historic campus included interior and exterior renovations of the Gerber House, barn and cottage as well as a new gazebo, covered back patio and the addition of an ADA ramp.