Rebuild America's Public Schools, One at a Time
Nearly 100,000 public schools across the country are crumbling – leaking roofs, peeling walls, poor air and water quality, mold, broken toilets and rodents. As the public urges members of Congress to support the Rebuild America’s Schools Act, members of BAC Locals are taking action to rebuild them, one school at a time.
Revere High School, located at the intersection of Revere and Everett Roads in Richfield, Ohio, is one of these schools. Built in 1951, the school is ranked as one of the top 1,000 high schools in America, but it is starting to show its age. Over the decades, it underwent various building additions and modifications to adapt to the needs of teaching and learning. In November 2016, the voters approved a bond issue that will pay for the new high school and other school buildings in the area.
The $4.66 million project includes demolition of the old school, new construction and remodeling of a new school. Eight bricklayers of BAC Local 6 and 7 Ohio, employed by BAC signatory contractor Valentine Contractors Inc. (North Canton, OH), have been working on the project since late January. According to Mike Bichsel, Safety Officer of Valentine Contractors, a total of 118,964 brick and 129,762 blocks are expected to be laid on the job. An estimated 5,833 bags of mortar and 746 cubic yards of grout will be used and 15.2 miles of Durawall will be built. The job will generate at least 24,000 work hours for BAC members, according to BAC Local 7 OH Field Representative Noah Carmichael.
Carmichael said, “We will have more than 20 BAC bricklayers working on the job in a few months. Our skilled bricklayers are performing quality work and our contractor has been satisfied with our work.”
A BAC signatory contractor for nearly 50 years, Valentine Contractors has built 48 schools across northern Ohio between 2008 and 2019 alone, including 23 schools built in the last 5 years. Bichsel said the company has a great working relationship with BAC Locals in Ohio. “We are currently building another five schools. Our company has 135 employees, including 85 bricklayers. We expect to have up to 110 bricklayers working for us in July. We perform work in six BAC Locals and are looking forward to expand this number in the next year,” Bischsel said.
In 1970, Mike Bichsel’s grandfather Jim Valentine joined BAC former Local 23 Ohio and founded Valentine Contractors. Jim is a well-known contractor in Canton, Ohio area and has always believed in the Union. “Since the early 1970s, he has done work on everything from schools, municipal buildings, federal government buildings, commercial office buildings, shopping plazas and major universities in Ohio. Throughout his career, he has contributed in shaping the industry standard on how bricklayers perform work on the job,” said Mike Bichsel. “He started as a union bricklayer and hired union bricklayers as a union contractor. Three of us, all his grandsons, John Bichsel, Hunter Daniels and me, will be his successors. Our company has always been and will always be a union contractor.”
The new school is on schedule to open for the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year.
