Skill and Cooperation Allow Hall of Justice to Open Ahead of Schedule

Local 6 MI marble mason John Kleiber, a BAC member since 1983, muscles cubic column bases at the Michigan Hall of Justice rotunda into position. The two-piece bases are made of Angola Black marble quarried in Canada and fabricated in Italy.

The Michigan Hall of Justice in Lansing, Michigan opened on time and $20 million under budget this October, thanks to the productivity and skill of BAC craftworkers and contractors. The largest stone project built in Michigan in 40 years, the Hall of Justice will house both the Michigan Supreme Court and the state’s Court of Appeals.

“Projects like this don’t come along every day,” says Local 9 Michigan Field Representative Jim Bitzer. “Our members get a chance to use their talents and even learn new skills along the way on these kinds of jobs.”

The project consists of 15,000 limestone panels, some measuring more than 11 feet tall, anchored to extensive block work on the building’s exterior, while checkered marble patterns spiral around rotundas and vestibules inside. The project’s interior makes use of Angola Black and Calcutta Gold marble, fabricated in Italy. “We used small crews — one marble mason and two finishers — to keep our installations consistent and quality high,” says Local 6 Michigan marble mason John Klieber, a foreman with Boom Stone. The job, with financing, came in around $130 million, and contained $10 million in masonry work alone.

Local 9 MI bricklayers Bill West, right, and Michael Ellsworth install a stone panel at the entrance to the Michigan Hall of Justice.

“Performance by contractors and craftworkers was specified into the Hall of Justice’s design,” says Dan Schiffer, President of Holt, Michigan-based Schiffer Mason Contractors, Inc, which performed stone, block and site work, and played a lead role in scheduling work and completing the project.

“Cooperation between the general contractor, subcontractors, architect, and owner made a big difference at the Hall of Justice. Because of the open and honest discourse among all of the project’s participants, the job came in on time and under budget,” explains Schiffer.

Set in 11/2” of mud, this spiral pattern of Angola Black and Calcutta Gold marble spins around a penny forged with the Michigan State Seal. The pattern is replicated on the Hall of Justice’s sixth floor, where the marble pattern surrounds a penny insignia of the Michigan Supreme Court Seal.	Local 9 MI Field Representative Jim Bitzer, right, discusses the rapid progression of the Michigan Hall of Justice with Local 9 bricklayer Carey McIlrath. “This is the largest stone job I’ve ever worked on,” says McIlrath. “The job challenged our problem-solving skills and asked our crews to improvise and design solutions to blueprints that did not fully detail the project’s masonry.”
	Local 9 MI bricklayer Dave Paseka, a 24-year BAC member, drills holes for exterior stone anchors at the entrance to the Michigan Hall of Justice.