Newsletters
Winter 2018 Newsletter
Featured Article:
The Job of a Lifetime - Larry Minter and Karl Whitaker Retire After Decades of Stellar Service
Larry Minter was a fresh-faced 20-year-old in 1970 when he started his career at The Hamstra Group. Karl Whitaker was a mere 17 when he was hired as a backhoe operator in 1969. Both of them were deemed old enough to work hard, but not yet eligible to vote (until passage of the 26th Amendment in 1971, the U.S. voting age was 21).
Now both men—elder statesmen at The Hamstra Group with decades of accomplishments under their tool belts—are retiring from the only company that’s claimed their allegiance and benefited from their years of dedicated service.
“Larry and Karl helped build this company,” says Greg Hamstra, president and CEO. “These guys started at the bottom, learned everything there was to know, and mastered the art and science of construction like pros. They helped us build millions and millions of dollars’ worth of commercial, industrial, and governmental buildings and facilities. We’re going to miss them.” ….
Fall 2017 Newsletter
Featured Article:
Hamstra Had the Right Prescription for This Medical Clinic Renovation
The Leestma Medical Clinic, an established family osteopathic medical practice located in DeMotte, Indiana, needed more space—and a brand new look. And The Hamstra Group had the right prescription for a renovation that provided more comfort, more color, and more clout when it comes to street level publicity for the clinic.
It took seven months to integrate the existing offices with additional newly purchased space and to refurbish the now 4,410-square-foot facility, which offers adult and pediatric medical care, wellness exams, chronic disease management, and preventative medicine, as well as other services.
Hamstra completely gutted the new space, and started from scratch with a new layout to improve function and flow. The scope of work included new finishes, floor, and wall tile; painted exposed ceilings; and Alpolic metal panels on the new exterior tower element. Because the floor heights were different between the existing space and the new, Hamstra built sloped ramps between the buildings…
Spring 2017 Newsletter
Featured Article:
Hamstra Group Gets A+ for New Discovery Charter School Construction
Officials and staff at Discovery Charter gave The Hamstra Group top grades for its construction of a new facility for the school.
After initial contact in December 2015, a contract was in place by January 2016, with construction completion set for the end of the school’s Christmas break in January 2017. But Hamstra’s team “got its book report in early” so to speak. The new Discovery Charter facility was able to open early to students and staff in November 2016.
Located in Porter, Indiana, Discovery Charter currently serves 518 students. A growing school, it needed more room, as well as upgrades to existing spaces….
Winter 2017 Newsletter
Featured Article:
Milling for a New Era: Hamstra Group Builds Pre-Mix Plant for Belstra
Belstra Milling Company, Inc. is a fixture in northwest Indiana. Founded in 1954, it has for decades served as the primary custom feed mixer for livestock and poultry producers in the region. Once the purveyor of Purina products, the DeMotte, Indiana firm later created proprietary “Action Feeds” and is today widely known for innovative ideas and its milling and mixing capabilities.
The Hamstra Group has a long history with Belstra and has helped it to expand operations over the years. The most recent project—a brand new pre-mix plant for the production of feed for local dairy farms—was proof that teamwork and trusting relationships are a recipe for success…
Fall 2016 Newsletter
Featured Article:
The Hamstra Group Builds A New Church For A New Era
The Hamstra Group has built many churches, but its most recent—First Reformed Church in DeMotte, Indiana—should stand the test of time. This church features the amenities and room for growth that typify many modern churches, and in delightfully creative ways.
While the motivations for attending church have changed little in the past centuries, the facilities that animate today’s churches are multiple and flexible. First Reformed Church was not designed
merely for brief services on Sunday mornings, but as a gathering place with active programs in outreach and community every week of the year.
Personal Reflections from Wilbert Hamstra
“I have attended First Church since my childhood and grew up in this church. I was involved in the leadership and was on the board for 25 years or more. My wife and I were also youth sponsors for about 12 years. It has been a big part of my life and my growth in my faith because of the church…
Summer 2016 Newsletter
Featured Article:
Hamstra Group at the Helm for DeMotte Building Boom
For The Hamstra Group, 2016 started with a bang as several new construction projects got underway in DeMotte, Indiana.
In fact, the five projects are all located along a five mile stretch of State Road 10 and State Road 231 in a bucolic community known for both its bustling entrepreneurial businesses and its successful agricultural operations.
First up was the new 40,000-squarefoot First Church project. The contemporary design/build plans for a beautiful sanctuary—and meeting rooms, offices, and community space—were completed by Hamstra. Groundbreaking and construction started while the snow was still flying; the first service was held on May 1.
Modernization of Fieldhouse Ford, for which The Hamstra Group constructed the original building 30 years ago, was next. In addition to updates suggested by Ford to maintain corporate homogeneity across the breadth of its national showrooms, the refurbished facility will boast a quick lane service area, newly remodeled showroom, and an expanded shop area…
Winter 2016 Newsletter
Featured Article:
Hamstra Group Renovations Bring New Life To Older Structures
When the offices of Crown Counseling Services opened in the fall, everything was shiny and new. But though the building may look like brand new construction, it’s actually a renovation project that packs a wallop in cost savings, time savings, and the greening of communities.
The Hamstra Group was a natural for the renovation. After all, the company built the original Crown Point, Indiana, structure in the 1980s. One of about 120 former Hooks Drugstores buildings constructed by Hamstra in Indiana and Michigan, the facility had been shuttered for about six years. Many of the Hooks buildings later became Revco stores and then CVS locations, as did this one…
Fall 2015 Newsletter
Featured Article:
Industrial Chic And New Amenities Make Hamstra’s SP19 A State-Of-The-Art Restaurant
The golf course, restaurant and outdoor pavilion at Sandy Pines in Wheatfield is one of the most popular attractions in the northwest Indiana region. With a luxuriously landscaped course, fine dining and photo-perfect outdoor event facilities, Sandy Pines is host to a multitude of golf tourneys, weddings, banquets, private parties, and more.
But it was, according to owner The Hamstra Group, time for an upgrade of the proverbial “nineteenth hole”—the restaurant and bar responsible for food and libations at Sandy Pines.
And wow…what a change! Hamstra staff and well-known restaurateur Carl Bruggemeier worked together on an “industrial chic” redesign that has customers in awe. The “steam punk” beer tower has become the talk of the town (and beyond)…