New Operating Engineers union hall will make ‘powerful statement’

A new state-of-the-art union hall building will soon start taking shape in southwest Rock Island. A groundbreaking ceremony was held last week for a multi-million dollar union building project for the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150  District 8 hall at 3511 78th Ave., West. Construction on the new hall, which will be […]

A new state-of-the-art union hall building will soon start taking shape in southwest Rock Island. A groundbreaking ceremony was held last week for a multi-million dollar union building project for the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150  District 8 hall at 3511 78th Ave., West.

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Construction on the new hall, which will be located near the current IUOE hall, is expected to begin soon. In fact, site development work has already started. The new building is scheduled to be complete next spring or summer. “This is a great district … and this new building will help (union members),” Jim Sweeney, president of IUOE Local 150, said during a ground-breaking ceremony late afternoon, Thursday, April 11. That event attracted about 75 people included local union members; government leaders, including Rock Island Mayor Mike Thoms and Rock Island City Council members; and business leaders including leadership from the project’s contractor, Valley Construction, and building designer Zingrone Architects. When complete, the new union hall will be a first-of-it-kind structure using cross laminated timber and wooden columns and beams, union officials said. “This design positions the hall at the forefront of sustainable building and architecture and makes a powerful statement. The eco-friendly features of the new center demonstrate Local 150’s dedication towards their membership, the communities in District 8, and responsible development in working to provide a greener future for the people of Illinois and Iowa,” according to a union statement. Some of the features of the new union hall will include:

• The new building will span 15,000 square feet and include a wing for administrative offices, a lobby that showcases union history and hall space with seating for up to 300 people.
• The building will offer about double the space of the current hall. The new facility will provide the space for bigger meetings and addition space for training sessions, said Marshall Douglas, treasurer of Local 150. He added that the current union hall will likely be rented out to another organization when the new building is complete. The current union hall is directly across the street from Liberty Packaging.
• It will be located on a 14-acre site that sits across the street from the current union hall. That land offers a diverse landscape of old growth forest and protected wetlands. “The site is designed to feature natural prairie and wetland landscaping, bioswale stormwater detention and minimal maintenance to reduce the building’s overall impact on the surrounding landscape,” according to information from Local 150.
• Union officials did not disclose the cost of the building project. However, Valley Construction officials told the QCBJ the project has an $8.5 million budget.

Work on designing the new union building has taken at least three years.  “We made a lot of changes to it to make sure this is the right building for you,” said Adam Zingrone, owner of Zingrone Architects, during Thursday’s ceremony. Planning and hoping for a new building have gone on for much longer. Mr. Sweeney told guests that discussions concerning a new union hall began in 1991 when Local 150 merged with Local 537.  The International Union of Operating Engineers represents 23,000 working men and women in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. The union members operate and maintain heavy equipment in a variety of industries, including highway construction, heavy equipment rental, concrete pumping, steel mill service, landscaping and much more. The IUOE is headquartered in Countryside, Illinois.