The Cummins Foundation

[ Go to photos of the projects ]

The Cummins Foundation was created in 1954, 35 years after Cummins was founded. It was one of the early corporate foundations and is part of the global giving arm of Cummins Inc. It makes grants primarily in Cummins’ plant communities around the world and for projects that engage Cummins employees.

Investing in a vibrant and economically viable community in our headquarters location of Columbus, Indiana, has long been an important objective for Cummins. This vision started with Cummins’ former Chairman and CEO J. Irwin Miller.

Mr. Miller, who had a lifelong interest in architecture, understood that Cummins’ success in retaining the best and brightest employees was closely tied to the company’s ability to attract this talent to Columbus. He wanted to help the community by providing an alternative to the standard, but uninspired, school buildings being built at a rapid pace across the U.S. in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in order to meet the demand created by the baby boom. Thus, in 1957, the Cummins Foundation made its first grant to support architecture fees, for the Lillian C. Schmitt Elementary School, designed by Harry Weese.

The Architecture Program became a formal part of the Cummins Foundation in 1960 with a grant for Northside Middle School. It began with schools, but later grew to encompass all facilities in the county owned and operated by public tax dollars. Mr. Miller once captured the spirit of the program with this statement:

“Every one of us lives and moves all his life within the limitations, sight, and influence of architecture – at home, at school, at church and at work. The influence of architecture with which we are surrounded in our youth affects our lives, our standards, our tastes when we are grown, just as the influence of the parents and teachers with which we are surrounded in our youth affects us as adults. American architecture has never had more creative, imaginative practitioners than it has today. Each of the best of today’s architects can contribute something of lasting value to Columbus.”

The program has become a major economic asset to the worldwide headquarters for Cummins Inc. More than 50 projects have been sponsored by the Cummins Foundation and numerous other significant works of architecture in the community have been privately commissioned. The resulting partnership between private and corporate resources devoted to design has created a critical mass of buildings that have captured national and international attention, attracting 40,000 to 50,000 visitors each year.

If the project is appropriate and meets the qualifications under the Architecture Program, the core team will make a recommendation on funding to The Cummins Foundation Board of Directors at the next foundation board meeting. The Foundation board will then vote on the request.

The core team will generate a list of architects, which is given to the requesting community entity. A core team representative will meet with the community entity and offer to help facilitate the architect selection using Six Sigma tools. Upon completion of the selection process, Cummins will provide funds for the design portion of the architect fees. The design architect will select and partner with a regionally-based production architect to construct the building. The fees of the production architect are the responsibility of the community entity. The Architecture Program may, at its discretion, pay for a project consultant to ensure that the design vision is appropriately executed timely and on budget.

It is important to note that the ultimate selection of the architectural team is up to the client – the community entity. While Cummins is available to facilitate the process if requested, the final decision resides with the community. The chosen architectural team should understand that the community is the client, not The Cummins Foundation.
A new list of architects is generated for each project. No permanent list is maintained. The method for developing a list is kept confidential to maintain the integrity of the process.

We will continue to make changes as necessary to ensure that architectural excellence in Bartholomew County continues as an important part of the development, prosperity and vitality of the community.

Cummins Foundation Project List

Projects commissioned under the Cummins Foundation Architecture Program for which architect’s fees were paid, in order by the year the award was granted

Projects commissioned under the Cummins Foundation Architecture Program for which architect’s fees were paid:

( dates indicate year of award, not completion date )

1957 / Lillian C. Schmitt Elementary School / Harry Weese

1960 / Mabel McDowell Adult Education Center / John Carl Warnecke

1961 / Northside Middle School / Harry Weese

1962 / Parkside Elementary School / Norman Fletcher

1963 / Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. Administration Building / Norman Fletcher

1964 / Otter Creek Golf Course / Robert Trent Jones

1964 / Otter Creek Clubhouse / Harry Weese

1965 / W.D. Richards Elementary School / Edward Larrabee Barnes

1967 / Four Seasons Retirement Center / Norman Fletcher

1967 / Fire Station No. 4 / Venturi & Rauch

1967 / Lincoln Elementary School / Gunnar Birkerts

1969 / L. Frances Smith Elementary School / John M. Johnson

1969 / Southside Elementary School / Eliot Noyes

1970 / Columbus Post Office / Kevin Roche, John Dinkeloo

1972 / Par 3 Clubhouse / Bruce Adams

1972 / Mt. Healthy Elementary School / Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer

1972 / Quinco Consulting Center / James Stewart Polshek

1972 / Columbus East High School / Mitchell-Giurgolaelli Architects

1973 / Fodrea Community School / Paul Kennon, Truitt Garrison

1981 / Columbus City Hall / Edward Charles Bassett

1982 / Sycamore Place Apartments / Gwathmey Siegel & Associates

1982 / Clifty Creek Elementary School / Richard Meier & Associates

1984 / Pence Place Apartments / Gwathmey Siegel & Associates

1987 / Fire Station No. 5 / Susanna Torre

1989 / FlatRock-Hawcreek Elementary School / Taft Architects

1990 / Bartholomew County Jail / Don Hisaka

1990 / Parkside Elementary School, addition / Norman Fletcher

1990 / Streetscape – Phase 1 / CRSSirrine, Inc.

1992 / Schmitt Elementary School, addition / Leers, Weinzapfel

1992 / Northside Middle School, addition / Leers, Weinzapfel

1992 / Mill Race Park, renovation / Michael Van Valkenburgh and Stanley Saitowitz

1992 / Bartholomew County Hospital, expansion / Robert A. M. Stern

1993 / Bartholomew County Courthouse Square / Michael Van Valkenburgh

1993 / Streetscape – Phase 2 / CRSSirine, Inc. & Stanley Saitowitz

1997 / Bartholomew County Veterans Memorial / Thompson & Rose

1997 / Otter Creek Golf Course, expansion / Rees Jones

1997 / W. D. Richards Elementary School, addition / Edward Larrabee Barnes

1997 / Smith Elementary School, addition / John M. Johansen

1998 / Clifty Creek Elementary School, addition / Stamberg & Aferiat

1998 / Bartholomew County Library, Hope Branch / Deborah Berke

1998 / Columbus – Woodside Fire Station No. 6 / William Rawn Associates

1998 / Columbus East High School gym, addition / Mitchell-Giurgola

1998 / Solid Waste District Board, landfill / William Johnson

1999 / Pence Place Apartments, renovation / Gwathemy Siegel & Associates

2000 / Central Middle School / Perkins & Will

2002 / Mill Race Center / William Rawn Associates

2006 / 8th Street Roundabout Landscape / Michael Van Valkenburgh

2006 / Urban Design Plan / Koetter Kim Associates

2007 / 4th Street Parking Garage / Koetter Kim Associates

2008 / Mill Race Center Landscape / Michael Van Valkenburgh

2008 / The Commons / Koetter Kim Associates

2009 / Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence / Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

2022 / Ivy Tech Community College / IWAMOTOSCOTT (expected completion, 2022)

• View a PDF version of The Cummins Foundation Architecture Program

• A list of all the artists and architects with work in Columbus

• Learn about J. Irwin and Xenia Miller, community leaders and benefactors

• View the guide to the Columbus art and architecture

• Columbus in the national media spotlight

• One small city – seven national historic landmarks!

• Learn about Exhibit Columbus

• When Charles Osgood and CBS came to town

• The Landscape architects of Columbus – Dan Kiley, Michael Van Valkenburg, Jack Curtis

• View the guide to “the avenue of the architects” or watch the video