Local 9 Pennsylvania
JOURNAL: ISSUE 2 - 2015
Executive Board Tours Jobsites in Pittsburgh and Cleveland
Holiday Inn Express and Suites
Approximately 12 Local 9 PA bricklayers and stone masons employed by BAC masonry, stone and restoration contractor Cost Company (Pittsburgh) are laying brick and setting stone on a 10-story hotel on Pittsburgh’s North Shore adjacent to PNC Park and Heinz Field. Since construction began in June 2014, to date the project has generated 9,058 work hours for Local 9 members.
Expected to be completed in August, the 110,000 sq. ft. hotel will feature 135 guest rooms, an indoor swimming pool, a fitness center, a business center, meeting rooms, and a breakfast bar.
The Holiday Inn Express under construction.
 From left, Cost Company foreman and Local 9 PA member David Sidick, Cost Company CEO Charles (Corky) Cost, BAC President James Boland and Local 9 Executive Vice President Norm Ringer, Jr. discuss the project. |
 Cost Company foreman and Local 9 PA member David Sidick, left, greets Local 9 President, David (Bucky) Donkin, Sr. |
Bakery Square 2.0
 BAC Executive Vice President Tim Driscoll, left, greets Local 9 PA bricklayer Michael Cicolini. |
In the heart of Pittsburgh’s east end, ten Local 9 PA bricklayers employed by BAC signatory contractor Franco Associates (Pittsburgh) are completing a five-story Gold LEED-certified brick structure, the first phase of a $120-million Bakery Square 2.0 project and latest addition to the Bakery Square campus featuring rental luxury apartments, townhomes, and offices.
The 216,000 sq. ft. building has generated 6,040 work hours for Local 9 members since construction began in March 2014. Franco Associates foreman and Local 9 PA member Ken Greene describes the project as a tough one. “It’s a façade over metal studs and insulation. It comes all the way from the bottom but there are areas from floor to floor without piers,” Greene says. “We may have only one bricklayer on a 120-foot-high scaffold to run up one pier… it’s challenging because you always have to be on top and have all the moves ready.”
According to Greene, the bad weather added still more complexity to their work. “We went from floor to floor where we were open. We had no windows; we had to put temporary enclosures up. It made it kind of a task to keep the areas heated enough to lay the brick, so it was uniquely challenging for this pretty brutal winter we had,” says Greene.
When the project is completed in the spring of 2016, the building’s top four floors will be home to Google, leaving the first floor for retail and restaurants. It will also include a sky bridge across Penn Avenue, allowing Google’s new space to operate seamlessly with its main office and the development’s 900-plus space parking garage.
Bakery Square 2.0 under construction.
 Franco Associates foreman and Local 9 PA member Ken Greene, left, and BAC Secretary-Treasurer Henry Kramer. |
 Local 9 PA bricklayers Norman Switzer, left, and Kenneth Friend, Sr. |
The Yards at Three Crossings
 Local 9 members Peter Kurdelchuk, left, and Al Copper get a new wing started. |
In the vibrant Strip District between 25th and 29th Streets, a 16-arce ‘sustainable living’ neighborhood is under construction, featuring 375,000 sq. ft. of office space, 300 residential units, 1,200 parking spaces, a multimodal transportation facility and riverfront trail.
Approximately 30 members of Local 9 PA employed by signatory contractor Franco Associates (Pittsburgh) are performing brick and block work on the 300-unit residential building called The Yards, a former rail and truck yard now being transformed into a new waterfront residential community. The Silver LEED-certified building is designed to provide a lush green “backyard” along the riverfront.
The Yards has generated more than 5,100 work hours for Local 9 PA members since construction began in December 2014. “The first floor is masonry; it’s all brick veneer after the first floor,” explains Franco Associates foreman and Local 9 PA member Norman Ringer III. “Since we have double-bond beam corners on top of the windows, we need to notch the bond beam for angle iron… Bearing plates weigh about 200 lbs. per piece, so we need two guys to set them. This might be one of the toughest jobs I’ve ever done,” Ringer adds.
The building will be ready for occupancy in Spring 2016.
Three generations of Local 9 members – Executive Vice President Norm Ringer, Jr., Franco Associates foreman Chip Ringer and member Kevin Salisbury with the BAC Executive Board. From left, BAC President James Boland, Secretary-Treasurer Henry Kramer, Kevin Salisbury, Norm Ringer, Jr., BAC Executive Vice President Tim Driscoll, Chip Ringer, and BAC Executive Vice President Gerard Scarano.
Local 9 PA members building The Yards.
 Dave McWilliams, left, and Matt Shrader, both of Local 9 PA. |
 Local 9 members Robert Braun, left, and Kevin Salisbury plumb a masonry wall. |