Construction-wise, there's not much we can say about the new Detroit Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

The 220,000-square-foot facility, located east of Wayne State University on Warren Ave. in Detroit, will have beefed up structural steel connections, thicker walls and bullet-resistant glass. "And I think it's safe to say that the security features are about as complex on this project as you're going to find anywhere," said David Pettijohn, senior superintendent for Skanska/W3 Joint Venture, the project's Construction Manager/General Contractor.

Beyond those basics, Federal Reserve officials, citing security concerns, prefer not to go too in-depth about the design aspects of the Detroit project. The $79.5 million project was topped off on April 6 by Local 25 iron workers working for Midwest Steel. "It's been an interesting job," said iron workers Supt. Dallas Campeau. "And it's been a very good job for the iron workers."

According to a press release by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the new Detroit branch will include a cash-processing area, a vault and support and administrative areas. The building's design and equipment will allow its operations to be among the most efficient in the Federal Reserve System.

Located on a 17-acre site, the Federal Reserve Bank said the staff at the branch will engage in cash processing, economic research and education and community outreach.

"The building is by far the single biggest investment project that we have undertaken during my tenure at the Chicago Fed," said Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Michael Moskow. "We are allocating sizable resources to build a leading-edge facility that will be important to the Federal Reserve System and the City of Detroit."

The new building will replace the current Detroit Branch office, which was constructed on the corner of Shelby and Fort streets in downtown Detroit in 1926 and enlarged in 1955. It is one of the oldest facilities in the Federal Reserve System.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, along with the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C., constitute the nation's central bank. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago serves the Seventh Federal Reserve District, which encompasses the northern portions of Illinois and Indiana, southern Wisconsin, the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and the state of Iowa. Each Reserve Bank supervises member banks and bank holding companies, serves as a bank for depository institutions and the U.S. government, monitors economic conditions in the District, and participates in formulating national monetary policy.

Doug Hiller, site superintendent for Motor City Electric, said with a hint of humor that that new building "is built like a bank." He said a limited number of ground-floor entrances complicates traffic flow on the site.

There have been about 200 construction workers on the project this spring, doing "excellent" work, Pettijohn said. The facility is expected to be complete in September.

OPERATING A CRANE at the new Federal Reserve Bank project in Detroit is Glen Johnson of Operating Engineers Local 324.

PUTTING UP exterior glass on the exterior of the Federal Reserve Building are Mike Genella and Wallace Dennis of Glaziers and Glassworkers Local 357 and Harmon Inc.