On Thursday, December 6, 2018, The Laborers’ District Council of Philadelphia and the Vicinity held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new Training and Learning Center, the Samuel Staten, Jr. Building, at 1333 North Broad Street. The new building is named for Samuel Staten, Jr., the Business Manager of Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 332.
GBCA President Ben Connors is one of the Management Trustees of the project. TN Ward Company is the General Contractor for the 60,000 square foot project. O’Donnell & Naccarato is the Structural Engineer for the project.
Before the ceremonial groundbreaking, several people spoke about the importance of the project, particularly to its location in North Philadelphia, near Temple University. Speakers including the following individuals:
- Ryan Boyer, Laborers’ District Council
- Patricia Crosby, Yorktown Community Organization
- John Street, Former Mayor of Philadelphia
- Ben Connors, GBCA
- Joseph Martosella Jr., CAEP
- Patrick Eiding, Philadelphia AFL-CIO
- John Dougherty, Philadelphia Building Trades
- William Bergman, Temple University (speaking for Richard Englert, Temple University)
- Richard Lazer, Deputy Mayor of Labor (speaking for Jim Kenney, Mayor of Philadelphia)
- Senator Vincent J. Hughes
- Congressman Dwight Evans
- Darrell Clarke, Council President, City of Philadelphia
- Tony Lewis
- Samuel Staten, Jr.
Learn more about the groundbreaking ceremony from the Philadelphia Tribune:
Click below to download the program:
Learn more about how the project came to be:
