The Pentagon Phoenix Project

The Pentagon after the attack, September 2001.

The newly restored Pentagon, June 2002.

It’s the world’s largest office building, with 17.5 miles of corridors and roughly 23,000 people working there. On September 11, 2001, the Pentagon was undergoing its first-ever renovation, when the unthinkable happened: a plane commandeered by terrorists slammed through the Pentagon, penetrating three of the structure’s five wedges, and killing 184 people — 59 on the plane and 125 in the building.

Thankfully thousands of workers who had been dislocated during the renovation were spared. Some very lucky members of BAC Local 1 Maryland/Virginia/D.C. were scheduled to work there that day, but
had been offsite getting materials or reassigned to other area projects.

Since then, an average of 600 workers have been rebuilding the Pentagon, with a peak force of one thousand. Local 1 MD/VA/DC President Jack Greenstreet and Secretary-Treasurer Juan Sampedro fielded calls from BAC members all over the country immediately offering their services.

At first, they worked 24 hours a day on the “Phoenix Project.” Since Thanksgiving, crews worked two 10-hour shifts, six days a week. R. Bratti Associates, a fourth generation stone contracting company in Alexandria, VA, used 30 skilled members of Local 1 to perform the entire reconstruction project. “We did it in one half the time allowed by the already accelerated schedule,” said Michael Bratti, the company President. The entire project, which included replacing 18,000 cubic feet of the damaged section and restoring the rest, was completed in just 12 weeks. Bybee Stone Co. of Indiana provided the 3.5 million cubic pounds of limestone from the original quarry in Bloomington to restore and rebuild the damaged section.

Local 1 MD/VA/DC stonemasons Mike Wondoloski (Superintendent), left, and Pete Machado (Foreman) with an original piece of limestone commemorating the September 11 tragedy during ceremonies at the culmination of the Pentagon’s Phoenix Project.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the project has been the drive to complete the work before the one-year anniversary of the tragedy. Foreman Pete Machado and Superintendent Michael Wondoloski, both Local 1 members, started each work day at coordination meetings. Machado notes that the high level of cooperation among all the trades and site managers made a dramatic difference. Many crew members signed a cornerstone, which they hope will be included in a September 11 memorial. Even without that, they know they are a part of history, and are justifiably proud of it.