Michael Muchmore is a project specialist who is currently working on a new elementary school with the New Glarus School District. Day-to-day, Michael creates construction documents and coordinates with the project’s consulting engineers. He also attends client meets and helps them research the right materials for their building.
Michael appreciates the opportunity to work on educational buildings. He considers them to be one of the most rewarding project typologies. “Schools have a far-reaching impact,” he says. “So many people interact with schools. Even over 10 years, imagine how many students, teachers, parents, and visitors are entering the school.”
Schools also tend to stick around for a long time. That sense of a building’s heritage is one of the reasons Michael chose a career in architecture. “I am always intrigued by the power of working on a building,” he says. “When we start a new project and receive the building’s original drawings, it’s so cool to think about their history – someone drew those, and now we’re adding to it or taking something away. We become a part of the building’s legacy.”
Sometimes, Michael is a part of starting new legacies. At the opening of the recently completed Garden Prairie Intermediate School, a new building for the Beloit Turner School District, Michael learned that the building is a selling point for new teachers who are considering employment with the district. “The principal and superintendent told me that when they interview candidates and walk them through the building, they say, ‘Yes, I want to work here!’ Hearing that makes everything worth it,” he says.
When he’s not working, Michael enjoys finding and listening to live music throughout Milwaukee. “I’m always trying to find good music, whether it’s a concert at the Pabst Theater or someone performing at an open mic on the weekend.”
