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EAST MOLINE – These are busy days at a new training facility for carpenters and millwrights that is being built on the edge of this community.
In mid-May, a crew of about 30 workers was busy doing masonry, concrete work, electrical and plumbing projects for the new facility that is quickly moving forward.
“We have a great bunch of contractors on this job as far as getting along,” Steve Curry, senior project superintendent for Bush Construction, said during a recent site tour. “As a superintendent, you are always trying to do as many projects as you can; not just one project and then another.”
The multi-million dollar training facility – which will formally be named the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council (MACRC) Quad Cities Campus – is located at 17020 4th Ave., East Moline. It is near the FedEx Freight facility and not too far from the former Quad City Downs race track.
The facility’s address will eventually change to 408 Carpenters Court when the road’s name is changed.
When complete, the state-of-the-art facility will consist of two buildings: a training facility building that will be about 55,000 square feet, and a council building that will be about 20,000 square feet. The council building, which will house various offices and administrative space, could be complete in early September. The training facility may be ready in December.
“But those (completion dates) are moving targets. That could change,” Mr. Curry was quick to point out.
Like so many other construction projects these days, the training facility has been hit by a series of challenges in recent months. Those challenges center on supply chain shortages, inflation and labor shortages.
During a recent tour of the training facility, Mr. Curry added that he was looking for many more workers, especially bricklayers.
“I keep going to the unions and asking ‘How are you doing for help?’ And they keep telling me they have none,” he said.
But the Bush Construction leader added that despite the challenges, the training facility buildings will be complete in a few months. And the facility will do great work in training the next generation of carpenters and millwrights.
“I had trainers go through this place and ask, ‘Man, what are we going to do with all this space?’” he recalled.
Curt Determan, MACRC program training director, said he is looking forward to the new facility opening with its massive space and new technology.
“This is really very exciting. This will be a top-notch facility. It will be one of the best in the Midwest; probably one of the best in the country,” he added.
If the construction schedule stays on course, MACRC trainers will begin moving into the new facility at the end of the year, and begin taking classes there in early 2023. (The current carpenters training facility at 479 27th St., East Moline, and millwright training center in Bettendorf will close once the new facility opens.)
Mr. Determan said he hopes to have about 250 to 300 apprentices go through the program every year. The four-year training program will include 640 hours of classroom work and 5,200 hours of on-the-job training.
The training programs and curriculum offered will include foundations, wood and metal framing, flooring, scaffolding and other skills.
“This is not just an investment in the quality training of skilled union apprentice carpenters and millwrights,” MACRC Executive Secretary-Treasurer Gary Perinar said in a news release. “It is also an investment in the Quad Cities region that will increase property values and help spur economic development. Our new training center will be one of the crown jewels of the East Moline and Silvis communities.”
Mr. Perinar added that the new facility will create hundreds of jobs in the community.
