BAC Powers Up at New CMGI Stadium
President Flynn Pays Visit

BAC President Flynn, right, lends a hand and a trowel at CMGI Stadium alongside Local 1 MA President Ron Marvin.

A New England weekend in autumn... changing leaves, crisp temperatures—a picture perfect setting for football—and construction. BAC President John J. Flynn found both during his October visit to the CMGI Stadium job site in Foxboro, Massachusetts, the soon-to-be home of the NFL’s New England Patriots. Flynn talked with more than 70 BAC members and officers of Local 1 Massachusetts during a tour of the massive $285 million, 68,000 seat masonry-intensive project.

Since construction began more than a year ago, brick, block, and pre-cast, as well as plastering, EIFS, concrete flatwork, and waterproofing have been performed by crews of up to 50 BAC bricklayers, cement masons, plasterers, stone masons, and pointers-cleaners-caulkers. Ceramic tile work, under the jurisdiction of Local 3 Eastern Massachusetts, will begin in a matter of weeks. Tile is being used extensively throughout the interior, especially in the Stadium’s 80 luxury suites.

Local 1 MA members and officers present President Flynn with a signed football, courtesy of the New England Patriots. Front row, from left, Alex Grande of Grande Masonry, IU Regional Director Chuck Raso, President Flynn, Local 1 President Ron Marvin, and Field Representatives Jim Martin and Joe Grenham. [Field Rep. Ron Bouchard is not pictured.]

Accompanied by Local 1 Massachusetts President Ron Marvin, and IU Region 1 Director and Local 3 Massachusetts President Chuck Raso, Flynn praised BAC members for their “craftsmanship, dedication, and extraordinary contributions to the new arena.” Flynn recognized the important role IMI played in ensuring that large projects, such as the CMGI Stadium, are built with masonry materials.

“IMI’s marketing and promotion programs have helped us gain a stronger foothold in a number of strategic building markets, such as stadiums,” Flynn said. Referring to IMI’s work with HOK Sport of Kansas City, the renowned ballpark designer, on CMGI as well as past projects in other cities, Flynn called CMGI “another success story in this important market,” adding, “masonry construction on projects like these has created thousands of work hours for our members Union-wide.”

Pressure to complete the Stadium in time for the opening of the Major League Soccer season in spring 2002 has placed heavy demands on Local 1. “We’ve really been under the gun to provide enough skilled craftworkers to complete the work. So far, we’ve succeeded, and we’re proud of that,” says Marvin. “At the same time, we’ve had to keep pace with the construction surge throughout central and western Massachusetts.” Marvin credits Local 1’s field representatives’ stepped-up recruiting and organizing efforts with helping them stay on schedule. Local 1 recently brought in about 60 new members. Marvin has also had to draw on the resources of BAC’s Job Information Center, as well as the talents and skills of members from other Locals, including 3 Massachusetts, 1 Connecticut, 1 Rhode Island, 2 New York, 5 Pennsylvania, and as far away as Detroit (1 Michigan) and Nashville (5 Tennessee).

So far, the project has received favorable public notice for being on budget and on schedule. And that’s important, says Raso: “It takes a team effort to combat the perception that large masonry projects won’t fly because we don’t have enough qualified people. We’ve proven that perception wrong in city after city, and we’re doing it in Foxboro. BAC, IMI, and our signatory contractors have the resources and determination to get any job done.”

Local 1’s Marvin agrees. “We’re doing our part at CMGI Stadium. Now, it’s up to the Patriots!”

BAC signatory contractors employing members on the CMGI Stadium project include: Grande Masonry, Providence, RI; S & F Concrete, Hudson, MA; T. Brown, Baltimore, MD; P.J. Spillane Inc., Everett, MA; Component Spray Fireproofing, Inc., Medford, MA; Taylor Erectors, Inc., Guilford, CT; Contracting Specialists, Inc., Attleboro, MA; R&B Fab/Con, Capitol Heights, MD; and Port Morris Tile and Marble, Boston, MA.