The city of Detroit has a new multi-million-dollar construction project underway, this time in the Oakman Boulevard area on the city’s west side.
The Michigan Statewide Carpenters and Millwrights Joint Apprenticeship and Training Fund broke ground Wednesday on its new Detroit training center. The $30 million center is projected to open sometime in 2021.
“For Detroit residents, this school will be an opportunity to start a lifelong career in the skilled trades, debt-free,” says Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. “With all of the construction that is coming to Detroit, this school could not come at a better time.”
The center’s training area will feature a 30-booth weld shop, flooring manipulation area, high bay space with an overhead crane, and classrooms with smart board technology. Additionally, the building will offer meeting space for contractor symposiums, career fairs, apprenticeship readiness programs, and space for community events.
“Our new joint training center in Detroit will be our largest school in the state and will ensure Michigan’s carpenters and millwrights are the most highly skilled in the nation, ready to take on any job,” says Tom Lutz, executive secretary-treasurer of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights.
The 147,000-square-foot facility on seven acres will centralize operations that are currently spread across southeast Michigan, consolidating administrative and training operations under one roof. The project’s architect is the SSOE Group, which is based in Toledo and has offices in Troy, Midland, and Kalamazoo, and the general contractor is The Christman Co. in Lansing.
“The Christman Co. is honored to be a part of this exciting project,” says Joe Luther, project executive for The Christman Co. “We appreciate the quality of craftsmanship that the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights brings to every project and look forward to the day when this new training center will open, giving our brothers and sisters in construction a state-of-the-art facility.”
“Even a global pandemic can’t stop a union carpenter or millwright,” Lutz says. “We know Detroiters have that kind of work ethic and mindset, too. We look forward to opening our doors in 2021.”
