Executive Board Tours Jobsites and Training Centers in Chicago, NW Indiana
The BAC Executive Board – President James Boland, Secretary-Treasurer Henry Kramer and Executive Vice Presidents Gerard Scarano and Tim Driscoll – was out and about November 18-19, 2014 in the North Central Region, visiting several administrative District Council 1 of Illinois and Local 4 Indiana/Kentucky jobsites and area training centers. “The work our members perform at these jobsites is a showcase of BAC’s unparalleled craftsmanship,” says BAC President James Boland. “Thanks to BAC/IMI training and promotion programs, we have the capacity to continuously provide the most highly skilled trowel trades workforce for the most demanding projects in our industry.”
Administrative District Council 1 of Illinois
Malcolm X College Gets a New Campus
Approximately 25 Local 21 Illinois bricklayers employed by award-winning contractor A.L.L. Masonry Construction Co., Inc. (Chicago, IL) are working on the new state-of-the-art Malcolm X College and School of Health Sciences, a $251 million project on Chicago’s West Side. Begun in September 2013, this 544,000 sq. ft. complex is a crucial part of City Colleges’ five-year $524 million capital plan to improve the seven-campus community college system from upgraded classroom technologies to new teaching and learning facilities. The project design calls for 108,000 Norman brick, 218,852 CMUs in variable types, sizes and profiles, 6,200 cubic feet of cast stone, and 3,337 square feet of granite base, 139 tons of rebar and 37,500 cubic feet of grout. Upon completion in January 2016 in time for spring semester classes, the new complex will host 20,000 students – 6,000 more than the current building.
From left, BAC President James Boland and ADC 1 of IL President Jim Allen, Field Representative Mike Petritis.
From left, Local 21 Field Representative Bruce Nagel, BAC Executive Vice President Tim Driscoll, BAC President James Boland, and Maurice Steele of Local 21 IL.
 From left, BAC Executive Vice President Tim Driscoll, Local 21 IL President Mike Erdenberger, and BAC Secretary-Treasurer Henry Kramer. |
 Bricklayer Tyrone Scott of Local 21 IL. |
 Local 21 bricklayers Vince Czapka, front, and Mitchell Jedlecki. |
 From left, Local 21 IL President Mike Erdenberger, BAC President James Boland, and Local 21 member Maurice Steele.
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Transform Historic Gem to a New Hotel
With its well-recognized terra cotta façade, the historic Venetian-Gothic building that once housed the Chicago Athletic Association remains one of the most stunning architectural components of the Windy City’s most famous thoroughfares, Michigan Avenue.
At its peak, ten BAC plasterers – members of Locals 56 and 74 IL – employed by signatory contractor RG Construction Services (Elmhurst, IL) have painstakingly restored the interior and exterior of this beautiful landmark in preparation for its transformation into a 241-room boutique hotel, due to open this summer.
In photo at left, Local 56 IL plasterer apprentice Stan Slawnikowski prepares the reinforcing fiber used in casting the next ornamental piece. In photo at right, from left, Brother Slawnikowski, ADC 1 of IL Plasterer Organizer Mike Hooper and President Jim Allen with BAC Secretary-Treasurer Henry Kramer.
 Local 56 IL plasterer and RG Construction Services Project Manager Robert Johnson, left, shows the reinstalled plaster ceiling to BAC President James Boland. |
 Brother Johnson points out the lobby’s historic elements to President Boland. |
According to Local 56 plasterer Jim Slawnikowski, an instructor at the ADC 1 of IL Training Center and an estimator and project manager of RG Construction Services, it has been a demanding project due to the building’s historically-significant marble floors and plaster ceilings. “Although the actual plaster material has not changed very much, the biggest challenge is to tie brand new plaster into old existing substrates,” explains Brother Slawnikowski. “This is only a small portion of the scope of work a plasterer does; this represents the very high end of our trade. The ability of BAC plasterers to take something that was made more than a hundred years ago and replicate it so that it looks like it was never changed – that’s the absolute definition of restoration.”
Work on the structure’s plaster ceiling is not the only restoration challenge. The building’s 8th floor Madison Ballroom “had extensive water damage, so we took rubber molds of the pieces that were salvageable, repaired them, put a weather shell on them, then recreated the pieces and patched them in to make a seamless correction of where the water damage was,” said Local 56 IL plasterer and RG Construction Services Project Manager Robert Johnson. “It highlights our craftsmanship and proves that our plasterers can perform this type of work.”
Jim Slawnikowski of Local 56 IL (father of apprentice Stan Slawnikowski), left, and BAC Executive Vice President Tim Driscoll check out the reinstalled plaster ceiling.
 Local 56 IL plasterers: apprentice Stan Slawnikowski, left, helps Robert Johnson cast one of the 155 ornamental plaster pieces needed to restore the building’s 8th floor ceiling. |
 From left, RG Construction Services Foreman Rocco de Carlo and ADC 1 of IL President Jim Allen discuss the project with BAC Executive Vice President Gerard Scarano. |
Loews Hotel Debuts in Downtown Chicago
The new 52-story Loews Hotel Tower at 455 North Park Drive in downtown Chicago has kept scores of Local 21 Illinois members on the job since construction began in spring 2013. Expected to open in March, this luxury building will feature 400 hotel rooms and 398 apartments, most with views of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Local 21 members performed all the masonry, stone, precast and marble and tile work throughout the hotel including the lobby, the sleeping rooms and the granite exterior.
Twenty Local 21 marble masons and finishers employed by Stone Installation and Maintenance, Inc. (Glendale Heights, IL) were responsible for the installation of the hotel’s lobby fireplace and the striking marble work in the adjoining restaurant. About ten Local 21 tile setters and finishers working for J & M Tile, Inc. (Burr Ridge, IL) installed the lobby’s porcelain tile floor. Also on the project were Local 21 marble masons and finishers employed by Italian Marble and Granite Co. (Chicago, IL), who performed all the marble tile work in all the bathrooms. At its peak, more than 80 members of Local 21 were on the job.
Earlier in the construction cycle, Local 21 stone masons employed by Granite Innovations (Chicago, IL) installed the exterior granite and quartz vanities in the hotel’s bathrooms. Prior to the Executive Board’s visit in mid-November, the project’s masonry construction by Local 21 members working for Illinois Masonry Corporation (Buffalo Grove, IL) and precast by members working for Creative Erectors (Rockford, IL).
“Our members are responsible for the marble, tile, masonry, stone and precast work throughout the hotel. We’re pleased that the BAC Executive Board was able to see some of the tile and marble work in progress and I think we were all impressed by the hotel lobby’s focal point, the 20-foot-tall granite fireplace, a truly one-of-a-kind artistic masterpiece delivered by our skilled Local 21 craftworkers,” says ADC 1 of IL President Jim Allen. “It’s a high-end hotel where BAC craftsmanship is evident everywhere from ceiling to floor, inside and out.”
From left, BAC Executive Vice Presidents Tim Driscoll and Gerard Scarano, ADC 1 of IL President Jim Allen, and BAC Secretary-Treasurer Henry Kramer.
ADC 1 of IL Plaster Organizer Mike Hooper, left, greets marble mason Tony Miceli of Local 21 IL, who is also pictured on the job.
 Local 21 IL marble mason Chuck Hopkins, Jr. |
 From left, Local 21 IL tile setters Jeff Wojcik, Jason Zelenc and Jamie Pratt. |
DCTC – Home to World-Class Training
During their tour of the IL District Council Training Center (DCTC) in Addison, BAC Executive Board members praised the Center’s commitment to offering world-class training that benefits Chicagoland members, signatory contractors, and the industry.
Under the watchful eye of Welding Instructor Lars Espeland, members take advantage of the DCTC’s welding certification training.
“The DCTC supplies signatory contractors with the most highly trained craftworkers in all the BAC crafts including the brick, marble, plaster, PCC, tile, and terrazzo trades,” said BAC President James Boland. “Our training centers must have the capacity to produce professional, productive craftworkers who can command the wage, and no one does it better than the DCTC.”
Plaster Organizer of ADC 1 of IL Mike Hooper takes great pride in the plaster training, “It’s a three-year program so we try to familiarize our apprentices with the various types of situations that they might encounter as professional plasterers. It’s a meaningful job to train our students who will carry on the tradition of repairing and restoring old materials as well as having the skills to build brand new [projects].”
The DCTC is also one of the first to offer professional training for Advanced Certifications for Tile Installers (ACT), a new set of certifications that recognize the importance of qualified installers and the role that the installers play in the success of any tile project.
Gavin Collier, DCTC tile instructor, said the ACT training is beneficial for both tile installers and contractors. “It’s a win-win situation for both contractors and our members. If the contractor hires someone who is an ACT certified installer, the employer knows that tile setter has the training and the ability to succeed on the job.”
The DCTC currently has over 400 active apprentices and provides safety and journeyman upgrade classes for over 7,200 members. To learn more about its training programs, please visit www.bac2school.org.
Local 4 Indiana/Kentucky
Activism + IMI = High School Modernization and BAC Work Hours
Lake Central High School’s new three-story academic building, close to completion.
Mobilizing together, Local 4 Indiana/Kentucky members and IMI, together with the Northwest Indiana Building Trades and Lake Central School Corporation, which manages 11 schools in St. John Township, Indiana, were able to help pass a $160 million school construction referendum calling for a comprehensive renovation of the area’s 47-year-old Lake Central High School an elementary school in November 2011.
On November 19th, the BAC Executive Board visited Local 4 IN/KY members at the Lake Central High School jobsite. The project’s first phase, begun in June 2012, was construction of a new three-story academic wing attached to the school’s existing Freshman Center. Completed in December 2014, the new academic building now features approximately 100 classrooms, a 50-meter competition swimming pool and locker rooms. The ongoing second phase includes a new building featuring a fine arts band area, a 1,000-seat auditorium, a large media center, a large gym and administration offices, renovation of 140,000 square feet of the Freshman Center, and a new football stadium. The whole project, when completed in December 2015, will help teachers and students advance their academic objectives and bring the school up to modern standards.
“When the drawings for the school were introduced, a lot of precast panels on the exterior along with steel studs on the interior were included. Local 4 IN/KY and IMI teamed up strategically, went to the architect and School Corporation with an informative ‘life cycle cost analysis,’ and were able to deliver the benefits of adopting masonry on the project,” says Local 4 President Ted Champ. “Phase one of the project was completed ahead of schedule and on budget,” Champ adds.
Nearly one million masonry units have been installed throughout the project by Local 4 IN/KY members employed by Ziolkowski Construction (South Bend, IN), creating more than 45,000 BAC work hours. At its peak, 50 of Local 4 members worked on the project. “A significant number of hours will be added for our members once we start the new football stadium, which has been awarded to our signatory contractor Gough Inc. (Merrillville Indiana),” says Champ.
 Local 4 member Mark Lesch tuckpointing a brick wall. |
 From left, BAC Local 4 member and IMI Indiana Director David Collins, BAC Executive Vice President Tim Driscoll, Secretary-Treasurer Henry Kramer, and Local 4 Field Representative Jeremy Rivas. |
 From left, Local 4 IN/KY member Jim Durham greets Field Representative Bob Green and BAC President James Boland. |
 From left, Local 4 Field Representative Jeremy Rivas with Local 4 member Jose Duarte with BAC President James Boland. |
Front Row from left, Local 4 members Chris Siebenhaar, Dan Stephenson, Local 4 President Ted Champ, BAC President James Boland, BAC Executive Vice President Gerard Scarano, Local 4 Field Representative Jeremy Rivas, and member Jasen Howard; second row from left, IMI’s Indiana Director and Local 4 member David Collins, Local 4 members Toby Myers, Seth Manuwal, Mark Lesch, Jim Durham, Brendan O’Keefe, Jose Duarte, and Jim Kistler; back row from left, Brandon Principe, Todd Gierlowski, BAC Secretary-Treasurer Henry Kramer, Local 4 Field Representative Bob Green, BAC Executive Vice President Tim Driscoll, Local 4 members Steve Weaver, John Edwards and William Iversen.