Fred Julius, chief operating officer for The Wilderman Group, announced the debut of the LeGrand Center to coincide with the exciting events for the American Legion World Series (ALWS) on August 17-21 at its new official permanent home at Keeter Stadium—Veteran's Field—in Shelby, N.C. Cleveland County officials have great expectations that this and many upcoming events at the new Center will continue to bring jobs for county residents.
LeGrand Center (rendering pictured) resulted from collaboration between the Cleveland County, North Carolina Board of Education, County Board of Commissioners and the Cleveland Community College Foundation Board—a $19 million, 44,000 square–foot conference center set within the new 89,000-square-foot building on the campus of Cleveland Community College in Shelby, N.C. A unique partnership between Cleveland Community College and the management team at The Wilderman Group evolved to a comprehensive hospitality training program conducted onsite at the college to identify and instruct potential wait staff to work during the many social and business functions, meetings, economic development events and receptions scheduled at the Center. The ongoing hospitality training sessions provide basic instruction on serving procedures and provide opportunities for local residents to serve as on-call staff for the many functions and events scheduled at the Center. Some of these events will host as many as 900 guests.
The new LeGrand Center will host a series of prestigious events including the National Commander’s Reception with special guest artist Lee Greenwood, The American Legion World Series Luncheon for American Legion players and their families, and the Banquet of Champions featuring a special performance by the 82nd Airborne All-American Chorus.
LeGrand Center
Designed to meet the strict criteria established by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) for LEED Silver certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), LeGrand Center is one of the largest LEED-certified projects in Cleveland County and utilizes modern, energy-efficient materials, utilize natural lighting and feature cutting-edge conference technology for both the education and conference spaces. The new conference center also features advanced conference technology and audio/visual capabilities to enhance the meeting experience and add efficiencies and convenience to other events such as banquets and social gatherings.
The LeGrand Center is part of Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities which helps transform physical communities into connected communities that can help realize sustainable economic growth, enable environmental sustainability, and enhance the quality of life. Environmental/sustainable features will be implemented throughout the Center. The sustainable design will follow the rigorous standards for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, indoor environmental quality and innovative design.