By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW — One word continued to be uttered during Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for the recently completed Zimmer Biomet Center Lake Pavilion renovation: commitment.

Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said it when he referred to the orthopedic company’s longstanding current commitment to the city. Zimmer Biomet President and CEO Ivan Tornos said it when he talked about the company staying in Warsaw for the next 800 years.

The renovation was a result of a $2.5 million grant from the Zimmer Biomet Foundation with a goal to advance the commitment to the local Warsaw community and the city of Warsaw, where Zimmer Biomet has been headquartered since 1927, according to a news release provided before the ceremony. The cost of the total project is approximately $3 million.

“Doesn’t this look great?” Thallemer said about the pavilion during his comments inside the building, receiving enthusiastic applause. “Right here in Warsaw, Indiana, our home and the home of the Zimmer Biomet global headquarters.”

After more applause, he continued, “It’s been that way for a long time. It’s like this building. Now this building is going to be here for a long time. Zimmer Biomet is going to be here for a long time.”

Thallemer welcomed everyone to the event, including the ZB team, led by Tornos in his new role as CEO for ZB. He acknowledged all the local elected officials that were present, as well as representatives of the Kosciusko County Community Foundation, KEDCO and OrthoWorx.

The Past

The pavilion was constructed in 1935 as an open-air pavilion, he told the crowd. “So long ago you could see the lake because there were no walls or windows or anything. Set in our prominent downtown Central Park, overlooking historic Center Lake – again, a view which we can now enjoy again,” he said. The original cost of the construction was $186,264.73. It was remodeled several times, once after a fire in 1991, “the Center Lake Pavilion has been the heart of our city parks system and has a rich history of service to our community.”

For the past 88 years, among other things, Thallemer said the pavilion has served as a polling location for numerous elections; a critical public health site, including through the recent pandemic, but also blood drives, medical testing and vaccination clinics; a location for the mayor’s State of the City addresses; and many wedding receptions. There have been daddy-daughter dances, city employee meetings and high school proms.

“The Center Lake Pavilion has also provided a gathering place for local stakeholders, publicly discussing important issues that are important to our city, such as the future of U.S. 30, candidate forums or our efforts to manage the drug crisis,” Thallemer said.

“The Center Lake Pavilion has always mattered. And now, thanks to the generosity of the Zimmer Biomet Foundation, the Zimmer Biomet Center Lake Pavilion will remain a valued community asset for hopefully another 88 years.”

When Zimmer and Biomet merged in 2015, Thallemer said it created not only a global synergy in the musculoskeletal market, but combined their workforces and their histories and traditions of community engagement. Over the years, the community has benefitted from both Zimmer and Biomet’s corporate generosity, as well as personal philanthropy from orthopedic leaders such as Dr. Dane Miller and Ron Davis, “all of whom have embodied commitment to their community,” Thallemer said.

“And now, today, the legacy of commitment to the Warsaw community continues. Through the generosity of the Zimmer Biomet Foundation’s $2.5 million gift to the city, we stand here today proud of our partnership and excited about the future,” Thallemer continued before thanking Adam Griner, Zimmer Biomet Foundation Inc. manager, corporate social responsibility; Keri Mattox, ZB chief communications and administration officer and Foundation president; ZB Past President and CEO Bryan Hanson and ZB team member Monica Kendrick for their involvement in the renovation project.

He also thanked CME, the general contractor for the project, and Design Collaborative, the architects.

His final acknowledgement was to Jim Lancaster, president of ZB Global Reconstruction, for leading the Warsaw Connection Committee in his role as Global Headquarters executive director. “Jim and his committee’s dedicated work demonstrates a deep, deep commitment to Warsaw. Thank you, Jim” Thallemer stated.

Before introducing Tornos, Thallemer concluded by stating, “This commitment from Zimmer Biomet is a critical reflection of their past and future commitments to Warsaw, Kosciusko County and the state of Indiana. My heart has been warmed by Ivan’s personal commitment to this special community. He and his leadership team will be great partners as we move forward to retain Warsaw’s proud role as The Orthopedic Capital of the World.”

The Future

As he began his comments, Tornos said he would read the prepared remarks, but also give some additional comments “that I will tell you about how I feel about this moment, and how I see this partnership between Zimmer Biomet and Warsaw. It won’t be for the next 88 years, but for the next 800 years.”

He thanked Thallemer, Parks Superintendent Larry Plummer, the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce and the Zimmer Biomet Foundation for their involvement in the project.

“I will tell you we get a lot of demands. We get a lot of funding requests for investments, and though we are a Fortunate 500 company, we do have a limited budget, so it always comes down to what are the key investments we want to make, and Keri chose wisely, making this one of the key investments because this one speaks about culture, speaks about community and it speaks about the DNA of the company. So I want to thank you and the Foundation for doing this,” Tornos stated.

He also thanked Griner for being a visionary and key leader on the project, as well as others on the ZB and ZB Foundation team.

“We are extremely proud to be a part of this beautiful community and we are filled with the opportunity to make an investment that everyone can enjoy,” Tornos said.

He talked about how Warsaw resembles the town where he spent many years of his young life. While he’s originally from Madrid, Spain, he came to the U.S. in 1989 and ended up in Pisgah Forest, N.C.

Going off script, Tornos stated, “I love Warsaw, Indiana. We love Warsaw, Indiana, and I think you heard Mayor Joe mention a couple times the word commitment, and that’s a word that I don’t take lightly. That’s a word we don’t take lightly. When I say we’re committed to Warsaw, Indiana, we’re saying so understanding truly what commitment means. It’s not involvement. It’s not partially being committed. It’s being fully committed.”

To that end, he said over the last two years Zimmer Biomet invested north of $200 million, whether it’s infrastructure, manufacturing or bringing more activities to the city.

“And I would say that’s just one step in the right direction. We’ve invested close to $3 million in this building. I would say this is just the tip of the iceberg. We have said several times … this will continue to be the Global Headquarters of Zimmer Biomet,” he stated, receiving a round of applause. “I know how rumors get started. I know how people always think that we’re leaving the community. I know how people always think that the CEO of the company will always decide where the company goes, that’s not the case. We’re not moving the company headquarters to Madrid, Spain. Where the headquarters of Zimmer Biomet are today will continue to be here in Warsaw, Indiana. So that’s the commitment part.”

He said he and ZB loves Warsaw because it has all the right ingredients to create a great company.

He stated, “We’re not leaving. Zimmer Biomet is not leaving Warsaw, Indiana.” He said he loved Warsaw for what it represents. “So beyond the values that I spoke about, beyond the family-centric approach, beyond the faith-centric approach, which is very dear to me, I love the grit, the resilient, the innovation story that we have here in Warsaw, Indiana, and Zimmer Biomet.”
He said there’s got to be something about Warsaw that drives innovation the way that it does.

Before introducing Mattox, he restated that Zimmer Biomet was committed to Warsaw.

Mattox thanked those involved in the project and provided a background on the ZB Foundation.

“We do get many, many requests for funding. This is one that as soon as we were able to really identify and define what it would be, and what it would mean to the community, there was unanimous and vigorous consent that we really wanted to move this forward.”

She said the Foundation identified the pavilion as a top priority “because, to Ivan’s point, it’s really at the heart of our community here in Warsaw and the Foundation is really driven by giving back to our community.”

Dr. Jeffrey Fawcett spoke on behalf of Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Rob Parker who was unable to attend Wednesday’s event. He thanked those involved in the project as well as Zimmer Biomet for their support.

The Present

After the ceremony, Plummer spoke about the technology in the renovated pavilion.

“We have a lot of options. We have two large projector screens and projectors on the ceiling. We have the big TV in the conference room. You can use those independently or you can use them altogether. The system is very simple, it’s push button for the video part of it. The audio part of it is just a little bit more complicated, but it’s very simple to use and it’ll blow the socks off in here — if you turn it up, you’ll hear it,” he said.

When someone rents the facility, they will be shown how to operate the equipment if they’re going to use it.

“I think it’s going to take a little while for the community to get used to the controls in here, but that’s our plan. We talked about making a QR Code to allow the public to scan and get a tutorial on how to use it. There is a control that you can plug into the WiFi and control some of the settings that way, so it’ll be a process for us and the community to learn how to use this building, but once we do, the sky’s the limit,” Plummer said.

The carpeted area inside the pavilion can be divided off from the larger area. Both have their own kitchen areas and restrooms. Plummer said there’s a lot of capabilities in the carpeted room, including in-ceiling microphones and Zooming capabilities.

This year, the Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department got a new office/maintenance building, the renovated pavilion and Central Park is getting a recreational trail.

“It’s been a very good year, it’s been a busy year. We’ve all been busy, we’ve all been committed, but once this is all done down here, it’s going to be a destination place for the community and we’re just so proud and lucky to have the opportunity and this is a once-in-a-lifetime deal,” Plummer said.

City Councilwoman Diane Quance, who sits on the Warsaw Park Board, said, “I’m really excited about what it can offer to the community and I appreciate the involvement of Zimmer Biomet and their commitment to the community to do this. But, I think it’s a really classy facility and I was thinking as I was sitting over there and looking out the window that I feel that I could be at a state and national park somewhere enjoying the beauty of nature while I’m sitting at a conference meeting. And so I hope the community comes out and sees the facility and really appreciates what we have here.”

She said the parks board has tried to set the facility rental reasonably so people can enjoy it but it can be continued to be maintained at the quality level it is today.

According to Plummer, on the weekends the rental price is $600 for the whole facility or $500 for the larger room. The backroom (smaller room) is $150 for four hours during the week and $200 for all day on the weekends.

Facility rentals begin today, Thursday, Sept. 28.