Raising the Curtain: The Making of Ironworkers Local 63 Training Center

What started as just a pile of dirt and a rendering has now taken shape into a one-of-a-kind, hands-on training center for the local Ironworkers union.  

Engineering News-Record (ENR) recently published an article about the construction of the Ironworkers Local 63 training center in Broadview, Illinois, where Skyline Construction is serving as the general contractor. When complete in early May 2024, the state-of-the-art, ground-up building will serve as an educational facility to teach apprentices the tools of the trade. The space will feature a large, centralized training floor on the ground level with flanking dual mezzanines for meetings, observation and storage. A 20-foot-tall water chamber will allow tradespeople to install and test one of their most significant components – glass curtain wall – and observe how it handles under inclement conditions. 

Affectionately known by members of the project team as “the House of Glass,” the facility truly is a showpiece for the Ironworkers’ craft, as it features two arc-shaped, 50-foot-tall glass curtain walls on the east and west sides of the building.  

The term “curtain wall” refers to the non-load bearing exterior covering of a building, which is designed to protect the interior from various elements. The new building’s curtain wall was constructed using glass, which is a popular design choice by architects due to its pleasing appearance, energy efficiency, and ability to allow an abundance of natural light to penetrate the building’s interior. 

If the undertaking of installing glass curtain wall seems daunting, that’s because it is. “The foundation wall is an inch or two bigger than the glass that sits on it,” said Patrick Cronin, the project manager for Skyline. “If this foundation wall isn’t exactly where it needs to be and if there’s any deviation between the concrete and the curtainwall, everything isn’t going to line up.” 

The Skyline team has been hard at work ensuring that the quality of the rest of the build meets the same standards as the glass façade. In addition to constructing the rest of the facility’s interior features, contractors installed the prefabricated structural precast wall panels for the north and south sides of the facility and a five-ton ceiling-attached bridge crane, which will allow the Ironworkers to grab and place glass panels required for training. 

“Getting the bridge crane up was a big win,” said Dan Polito, Skyline Construction Illinois’ director of operations. “There was a small clearance — we’re talking inches. The bridge crane has to be able to clear over the test structures the apprentices will build. We couldn’t go higher with the roof so it was down to an inch in clearance. It was a puzzle to fit it all in there.” 

To see how this project all began, check out the video of the groundbreaking below, then head over to the ENR website to read more about how it’s wrapping up.