Location: Kalispell, MT

Project Size: 58,000 sf

Completed: 2023

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Winner: "Best Institutional Project" 2024 Montana Contactors Association

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When Flathead Valley Community College set out to build the valley's premier performance and wellness destination, they needed a builder who could match architectural ambition with field-tested precision. Swank Enterprises delivered — bringing a 58,000-square-foot, "music in motion" vision to life on a hillside campus setting on time and without compromise on craft. The result is a facility unlike any other in the state, and a new cultural anchor for the Flathead Valley.

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The Wachholz College Center is now home to the Glacier Symphony and the valley's largest concert venue, anchored by the 1,000-plus-seat McClaren Hall. Alongside it sits the Stinson Family Event Center, a dual-court gymnasium and fitness complex, plus a reception hall, art gallery, and outdoor amphitheater — two very different programs under one roof, and two very different acoustic worlds Swank had to keep apart. Pre-stressed concrete panels give McClaren Hall its acoustic clarity and durability, while a dedicated acoustic isolation joint separating the performance hall from the adjacent gymnasium keeps a Tuesday-night pickup game from ever making its way into a symphony recording. Low-volume ductwork was engineered throughout to protect sound quality rather than fight it.

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Swank's team worked with the site's natural topography and tucked the building into the existing hillside which converted it into the O'Shaughnessy Outdoor Amphitheatre, with pond and mountain views built into the plan from day one.

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In January 2024, Swank Enterprises received the Montana Contractors' Association's Best Institutional Project award for its work on Wachholz College Center. FVCC President Jane Karas credited the partnership directly: "FVCC appreciates our partnership with Swank and the high level of craftsmanship, expertise and professionalism they brought to this unique project."

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Wachholz College Center is craftsmanship, collaboration, and lasting value made visible — a space built to serve the Flathead Valley for generations. It's the kind of project that reminds you why Swank Enterprises has spent decades building trust across Montana, one complex build at a time.​