Plumbers Local 98 has only had four training centers in the local union's 112-year history.

The latest and easily the best facility among them was unveiled on Oct. 11 during the grand opening celebration of the 35,000-square-foot Plumbing Industry Training Center.

Tom Delehant, who became Local 98's business manager last year, credited past business managers and the union's contractors for leading the effort to acquire and transform a building in an industrial park in Troy into new training, classroom and office space.

"Hopefully our plumbers will have better opportunities than they would have had at the other school," Delehant said. "This is a huge improvement."

Local 98's most recent school on Seven Mile Road in Detroit was built in the early 1960s. The building served its purpose well until the early 1980s, when the union hall moved into the top floor of the building, leaving the school with only 7,000 square feet of space to operate.

With the diminished space, the clock started ticking on when, not if, a move would take place. Twenty years later, the will to move, plus dedicated contributions from members and contractors, put into motion the acquisition of the new training center.

"If you went to the Seven Mile school and came here, you'd be quite impressed," said Local 98 Training Director Carl Schroeder. "The membership has graced us with the money and the opportunity to build this, and we will continue to do what we can to bring the industry together with the best training program possible."

The building includes a technical lab, dedicated areas for hands-on training, and an environmentally safe welding lab. Classrooms can be set up for both local and distance learning, via the Internet. And the new building allows Local 98 to be the only plumbing training center in the nation with ISO 9000-2001 certification.

Gary Young, who preceded Delehant as Local 98's business manager and is now the International Representative for Michigan, said, "the contractors were truly the driving force behind this building. They put their money where their mouth is and that needs to be acknowledged." He told attendees at the grand opening that he envisioned a smaller training center - but those who pushed for a larger training center, "in the end, they were right. I think we need to think big in terms of growing into the future."

Bill James of Bill James Plumbing Services said the training center "is the culmination of 10 years of planning."

Ghafari provided the architectural and engineering services for the project, while Skanska USA was in charge of construction. The building that was transformed into the training center was 19,000 square feet, and two additions totaling nearly 15,000 square-feet were added. Construction began in October 2003 and was complete in April 2005.

Also on hand for the grand opening was William Hite, general president of the United Association of Plumbers, Pipe Fitters and Sprinkler Fitters.

He said Local 98's school is the latest among the 25-30 training center grand openings he has attended in recent months around the country. He was taken to the old Local 98 training center, and the new one, and was struck by the improvement.

"You've come a long way, this is a gorgeous facility," Hite said at the grand opening. "There has obviously been a lot of good planning here and this is one of the top training centers I've seen."

Hite pointed out that collectively, the United Association's 330 unions spend about $120 million in training - and not a dime comes from the federal government.

"When contractors pick up the phone and call unions halls today, they want a trained workforce right now," Hite said. "Training is a lifelong commitment to our industry, and it's obvious to me that Local 98 has made that commitment, and I'm damn proud of them."

ATTENDING THE PLUMBERS Local 98 Training Center grand opening on Oct. 11 are current and retired UA local and International Union officers. From (l-r) are retired IU Rep. Joe Sposita, retired Business Manager Joe Perry, Local 98 Training Director Carl Schroder, International Union General President William Hite, Local 98 Busines Manager Tom Delehant, IU Michigan Rep. Gary Young, and Local 98 Financial Secretary-Treasurer Rich Gaber. Photo by Dennis Dazsi