News and Information about the Eastern Massachusetts Plumbing Industry • September 2019

www.massplumbers.com

Greater BostonPlumbing Contractors Association

978-777-8764www.GreaterBostonPCA.com

Plumbers and GasfittersBoston Local 12617-288-6200

www.PlumbersAndGasfittersLocal12.org

“Hub is going to change

the neighborhood and

help fill some of its

needs. It’s changing

the vibe.”

- Amy Latimer, TD Garden

Cover

“I’m developing a

great team with

Local 12’s help.”

- Steve Ferro, S. FerroPlumbing and Heating

Cover

“Plumbing inspectors

are the unsung heroes

in the Merrimack Valley

recovery.”

- Jim Vaughan, Local 12

Page 5

Continued on page 4

THERE IS A FLURRY OF ACTIVITY AT

TD GARDEN, AND IT’S NOT JUST THE

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS AND BACKSTREET

BOYS CONCERTS.There are towers and buildings being erected

alongside and above the sports and entertainmentarena on the site of the old Boston Garden as wellas an expansion of the venue itself. Collectivelyknown as The Hub on Causeway, the almost 1.9million-square-foot mixed-use project that DelawareNorth is building with Boston Properties will in-clude two office towers, a residential tower, a hotel,and a podium that will feature a new entertainmentperformance space, a Star Market, a 15-screenmovie theater, and a number of restaurant and retaillocations. Valued at $1.2 billion, the aptly namedHub is transforming Causeway Street into one ofthe city’s foremost destinations.

He returned to Local 12In 2001, when he was 18 years old, Steve Ferrojoined Local 12. The industry and the economy atlarge were booming. He immediately began workingfor GBPCA contractor E.M. Duggan as an apprenticeand remained there until he got his journeyman li-cense in 2006 and beyond. Still in his 20s, he becamea foreman and was running jobs for the shop.

“Honestly, I thought I’d be with Duggan for therest of my career,” Ferro says. Fate had other ideas,however.

Expanding the Gardeninto Boston’s

new Hub

Continued on page 6

“Hub is going to change the neighborhood andhelp fill some of its needs,” Amy Latimer, TD Gar-den president, told the Boston Globe in a video in-terview. “It’s changing the vibe.” It will also change

First phase of Fenway Center takes shape

changes, can be extremely chal-lenging,” says Curley as he pointsto the baseball schedule that isprominently tacked onto theboard next to his desk. “We can’twalk, never mind drive to makedeliveries. And parking can be es-pecially tough for workers herewhen the Sox are playing.”

Of course, the project is calledFenway Center, so the popularpark kind of comes with the ter-ritory. Curley, who says that co-ordinating deliveries is a big partof his job, has learned to workaround the Sox schedule.

It’s interesting to note not onlyhow Cannistraro makes deliver-ies, but also what is being deliv-ered to the site. The contractorrecently retrofitted an old ma-chine shop in the Seaport Districtand created a 157,000-square-foot fabrication shop it calls TheFID. As is standard for most largeconstruction projects, Cannis-traro is fabricating many of thepiping units and other systemsin advance and then delivering

them to the job site whenthey are needed. But not

everything is comingfrom The FID.

“Prefab may not bethe best solution for every

job, every time,” explains Curley,challenging the industries’ new“norm.” In some cases, due tosite logistics and schedule limita-

tions, he is going the conven-tional route, having pipe and fit-tings delivered by a supply housedirectly to the Fenway Center.His crew then does what isknown as “stick building,” orbuilding the systems in-place on-site. Instead of taking the stock,building it, packaging it, schedul-ing it for transport, and deliver-ing it to the site, as is the casewith prefabrication, Curley sayshe only has to handle the mate-rial once when his crew buildssystems.

The ceiling of the second floorof the podium, which connectsthe two towers, contains a gaggleof overhead piping—3,200 feetof it according to Curley. Fromthere, it’s a straight shot up tothe apartment units. The projectincludes four large storm waterretention tanks.

Among the buildings’ amenitieswill be a rooftop pool with ca-banas. There will also be a dogwalking area on the roof withdrains underneath as well as adog washing station on the sec-ond floor of one of the towers.

“They are doing a great job,”Gehron says of Cannistraro. “It’salways a teamwork effort,” headds, noting that the contractor

PAGE 2

Continued next page

Barry Keady, Local 12 business agent, and Brian Curley, plumbing fore-man for J.C. Cannistraro, at the Fenway Center job site.

IN ADDITION TO FENWAY

PARK, THE CITGO SIGN,AND OTHER LANDMARKS,MOTORISTS DRIVING ALONG

THE MASS PIKE NEAR KEN-MORE SQUARE HAVE A NEW

SIGHT TO BEHOLD: THE

FENWAY CENTER. Perched alongside the inter-

state, it’s pretty hard to miss the15- and 9-story towers thatbegan to go vertical in early2019. But the buildings only rep-resent the first phase of the pro-posed $600 million multi-usecomplex. If the developers cansecure air rights and funding, asecond phase would include anadditional three buildings to beconstructed on a deck that wouldspan across the turnpike.

“It’s an enormous project thatwould transform the neighbor-hood,” says Barry Keady, Local12 business agent. “We are po-tentially looking at six to eightyears of work for our members.”

The two towers now underconstruction will include 312apartments, including some af-fordable units. There will also bestreet-level retail shops and twobelow-grade garage floors with200 parking spaces. The site usedto occupy surface parking lots.

“It’s an interesting location,”says Barry Gehron, chief engineerfor the project’s phase-onegeneral contractor,John Moriarty& Associates.

“We are directly adjacent to atrain station,” he says referring tothe new Yawkey Commuter RailStation. Part of the developmentincluded construction of a deckand a pedestrian walkway overthe station. With the MBTA’sKenmore Square and Fenway sta-tions just around the corner, Fen-way Center is the epitome ofsmart growth, transit-orienteddevelopment.

“Also, you’ve got Boston Uni-versity, the hospitals, and ofcourse, Fenway Park on ourdoorstep,” Gehron adds.“There’s a lot going on aroundhere.”

GBPCA member J.C. Cannis-traro had 31 Local 12 plumberson site at the project earlier inthe summer. According to BrianCurley, plumbing foreman for thejob, the contractor expects tohave around 45 mechanics at itsheight.

As with many constructionprojects in the city, Curley saysthere is virtually no yard for con-tractors to unload or store sup-plies. But Fenway Center may bemore challenging than most jobsites for deliveries. There is aconstant flow of commuters atthe train station, and the area hasa steady stream of pedestrians ingeneral. And then there is theRed Sox.

“Day games, especially onesdue to lastminute

schedule

Fenway Center phase-one rendering

In July, the Greater BostonPlumbing Contractors Associa-tion hired Andrew DeAngelo forthe new director of public affairsposition. His responsibilities willconcentrate on external matterswith a focus on legislative issuesand community outreach.

Representing GBPCA contrac-tors and the plumbing industry,DeAngelo will be dealing withregulatory initiatives and pend-ing legislation such as paid fam-ily medical leave, wage theft,and the medical gas and draincleaning bills. Among his duties,DeAngelo will be spending a lot of time at the State Housewhere he will meet with law-makers to advocate for the in-dustry. He will also be theorganization’s liaison with thestate’s Plumbing Board.

DeAngelo will be visiting andinteracting with technical col-leges, high school trade schools,and other educational institutionsas well as municipal and socialservice organizations to promoteand support the value of plumb-ing as a career.

“Andrew knows how to engagegroups and is an expert in commu-nity outreach,” says Jeremy Ryan,GBPCA’s executive director.“

Ideally suited for the job, thepaths that DeAngelo has takenseemed to have been leading himto the GBPCA position. He grewup in a union household and,thanks to his father, has alwaysbeen interested in the buildingtrades. When he was younger,DeAngelo learned to work withhis hands from his dad, a re-cently retired electrician and

member of IBEW Local 103. Heattended UMass Amherst to pur-sue his other interests, publicservice and politics.

After graduating, DeAngelocombined his interests andworked for Boston’s Office ofWorkforce Development as a tran-sitional employment supervisor.

“The job looped me back withthe building trades,” he explains,describing his role overseeingcrews of court-involved youth atconstruction sites for Habitat forHumanity and Boston Planning& Development Agency proper-ties. In addition to helping theparticipants get on-the-job train-ing, he worked with them as alife coach.

The construction industry fig-ured prominently in his next po-sition with the Operation Exitprogram, which is run in con-junction with the Mayor’s Of-fice of Public Safety, the BostonCenter for Youth and Families,the Boston Public Health Com-mission, the Boston Police De-partment, and BuildingPathways. DeAngelo workedwith at-risk individuals who en-rolled in an intensive three-weekcourse that introduced them tothe building trades.

That led to a similar positionworking directly for BuildingPathways. As its project coordi-nator, he oversaw the day-to-dayneeds of the training programand established relationshipswith the training directors, busi-ness agents, and business man-agers of the area’s buildingtrades, including Local 12.

“We couldn’t have asked forsomebody with a better back-ground,” says Ryan. “Andrew hasbeen helping the construction in-dustry as a whole. Now he willbe focusing on plumbing con-tractors. Andrew will help raisethe profile of the PCA, not justinternally, but with the commu-nity at large.”

PAGE 3

PCA hires director of public affairs

Andrew DeAngelo

Piping assembly in the ceiling of the second floor at the Fenway Center.

Fenway Center towers over PikeContinued from previous page

is handling fire protection,HVAC, and sheet metal for theproject as well as plumbing. Bycombining all of the trades underone roof, it’s easier for Moriarty,the general contractor, to com-municate and coordinate withCannistraro for the project.“We’re happy to be partneredwith them,” says Gehron.

Should the second phase pro-ceed, plans call for a 27-storytower that would include addi-tional apartments along with of-fice space. There would also be aseven-story residential buildingand a seven-story parking garage.As envisioned, the entire projectwould yield a total of 550 resi-dential units, 170,000 square feetfor offices, 90,000 square feet ofretail space, and 1,290 parking

spaces. It would also include30,000 square feet of parks andgreen spaces.

“We certainly hope the FenwayCenter continues to move for-ward,” Local 12’s Keady says.“With all of the activity takingplace in the city and beyond, it’san exciting time for the region’sconstruction industry. And this isone of the premier projects.”

According to the Fenway Cen-ter’s phased occupancy plan, oneof the towers would open at theend of January 2020. Construc-tion would continue on the sec-ond tower, which would add tothe egress and other challengesthat Cannistraro and the othertrades on site face. The lowerhalf of the second tower wouldopen in April followed by the en-tire building’s opening in May.

The second phase of the Fenway Center would extend onto an air rightsdeck above the Mass Pike.

PAGE 4

The boom times ended, proj-ects became scarcer, and in 2009he was let go. Collecting unem-ployment got old quickly. Notone to sit idle, Ferro took action.

“I’m a licensed plumber,” hesays. “When I was a kid, I wastold it’s a license to work.” SoFerro got to work—by openinghis own shop. He hired a smallcrew and started doing basic resi-dential plumbing. The entrepre-neur moved on to smallrestaurant jobs such as B. Goodin Swampscott and Kelly’s RoastBeef in his hometown of Revere.

Through diligent work, S.Ferro Plumbing and Heating de-veloped a great reputation. Theshop generated good word-of-mouth and positive reviews. In2012, it was named as a pre-ferred contractor on Angie’s List.Referrals increased and opportu-nities for larger jobs started com-ing Ferro’s way. He knew thebusiness needed to grow.

“I had the knowledge. I hadthe drive. I had the skills,” Ferrosays. “But I didn’t have theplumbers.” That’s when hestarted thinking about returningto Local 12, but this time as acontractor.

“It’s a trend we’ve been see-ing,” says Frank Amato, recruit-ment specialist for Local 12. “It’svery difficult for smaller contrac-tors to find qualified plumberstoday. But we have them. Whenshops sign on with Local 12, theyhave access to a huge pool oftrained mechanics and canquickly staff up for virtually anyproject.”

That’s one reason why shopslike S. Ferro Plumbing and Heat-ing are joining the union. An-other reason: A few years ago,the local established a new resi-dential division and negotiated alower rate for the specializedwork. That enables contractors towork with Local 12 plumbers onresidential projects such as thenew construction of mid-rise,wood-frame apartment buildings.

Now, Ferro is able to handlejobs such as a 30-unit apartmentbuilding in Brighton and a 40-unit condominium complex in Ja-maica Plain. Affiliating withLocal 12 has also allowed him towork on 100% union jobs suchas installing gas piping for boilersat Harvard University and fittingout a Chick-fil-A restaurant indowntown Boston. General con-tractors and developers appreci-ate how quickly, efficiently, andprecisely Ferro is able to tackleprojects because of his Local 12connection.

While he welcomes the newwork, Ferro hasn’t abandoned hissmaller residential customers.“We’ll still fix Mrs. Smith’s sink,”he says. “We are very diverse. It’sgood for the plumbers who areworking for me, because they getto do everything.”

Ferro would like to becomeeven more diverse and move intolarger commercial work as well.With Local 12’s support, the goalis achievable.

There are other advantages tobeing a signatory contractor withthe union. For example, his em-ployees are earning a decentwage and getting good benefits.Ferro used to offer his own bene-fits program, but found the ad-ministrative work to maintain itconfusing and time consuming.Now, Local 12 maintains the ben-efits package.

“I’m developing a great teamwith Local 12’s help,” Ferro says.“The plumbers who work withme are happy. I’m happy. The fu-ture looks bright.”

PCA and Local 12 golf eventsEach year golfers gather togetherfor friendly competition, cama-raderie, and to help good causesat events organized by theGreater Boston Plumbing Con-tractor’s Association and Local12. The PCA outing, held in Juneat the Marshfield Country Club,shattered all previous records bycollecting $65,000.

“In two years, we have justabout doubled the amount ofmoney generated at the event,”says Jeremy Ryan, the organiza-tion’s executive director. Theproceeds are used to fund collegescholarships that are awarded to

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the children of employees at PCAmember contractors and to Local12 plumbers. With the increase indonations, the organization hasbeen able to award more moneyto each of the scholarship recipi-ents and establish an endowmentfund for the program to ensureits continuity.

“We are grateful to the golfersand sponsors for their unprece-dented support,” Ryan adds.

Local 12 will be holding itsgolf tournament on September14 in Hyde Park. Proceeds raisedwill be donated to several chari-ties, including area food pantries.

Continued from page 1

Ferro back in Local 12 fold

Shop owner Steve Ferro is proudly wearing the Local 12 logo again.

855-550-9911

PAGE 5

WHEN A NATURAL GAS DIS-ASTER CAUSED EXPLOSIONSand fires throughout Lawrence,Andover, and North Andover inSeptember 2018, GBPCA con-tractors and Local 12 plumberswere among the first to mobilizefor the recovery efforts. Some1,200 mechanics fanned outacross the communities andhelped restore service to about8,500 Columbia Gas customers.

At first, the recovery teams re-placed all boilers, hot waterheaters, and other applianceswith new fixtures. With winterfast approaching, however, a de-cision was made to temporarilyrepair appliances and fixtures,

when possible, rather than re-place them. That allowed theplumbers to proceed morequickly and get every householdand business back up and runningwith heat and hot water by Feb-ruary 1, 2019.

When the initial recovery wasdeemed complete, a contingentof Local 12 plumbers remainedon site to troubleshoot and pro-vide service as necessary. In earlyApril, the second phase of the re-covery began, and plumbers re-turned to replace the fixtures thatthey had initially repaired.

Why replace all of the appli-ances if they were functioning?“The excess gas could have ad-versely effected the fixtures,” ex-plains Jim Vaughan, Local 12business agent. “They could faildown the line.” Vaughan coordi-nated both phases of the Local’srecovery efforts in the Merri-mack Valley.

The phase II team includedfour Local 12-affiliated contrac-

tors: William F. Lynch Co. ofWorcester, Harry Grodsky Com-pany of Billerica, Jeffrey PeabodyPlumbing & Heating of Danvers,and Glionna Plumbing & Heat-ing Services of Saugus. Accordingto Vaughan, Glionna had beenpart of the recovery’s first phasewhen it was a non-union shop.

“They saw Local 12 in action,”he says, referring to the massive

Merrimack Valley recovery: Phase II

Harry Brett (left), Local 12 business manager, and Jim Vaughan (fourthfrom right), Local 12 business agent, with plumbers during the first phaseof the Merrimack Valley recovery.

Recovery Efforts in Merrimack ValleyBY THE NUMBERS

1,200Plumbers that worked on the recovery program

5,100Gas service lines replaced

92Plumbing inspectors participated in the recovery program

25,000Plumbing permits issued

132Apartments used for temporary housing

“Now that we can look back,” says Jim Vaughan, the Local 12 business agent who coordinated the union’srecovery efforts after the natural gas disaster that befell Lawrence, Andover, and North Andover, “thenumbers are wild.” Let’s take a look at some stats that emerged from the response to the emergency.

18,000Appliances replaced (another

2,000 old, inoperable appliances were discarded)

8,500Gas meters replaced

44.5Miles of gas main pipe replaced

13Miles of gas main pipe recertified

11,500Site inspections performed

25,000Carbon dioxide detectors installed

14,000Electric space heaters and hot

plates distributed

5,000Motel rooms used for temporary housing

500Trailers used for

temporary housing

1Cruise ship used for temporary housing

response of the union in thewake of the disaster. “That moti-vated them to join us.”

According to Mike Glionna,the shop’s owner, affiliating withLocal 12 has opened up new op-portunities. “Everybody knowsit’s tough out there,” he says, re-ferring to the scarcity of trainedmechanics amid the region’sbooming construction industry.“Now I have access to manpowerfor bigger and more diversejobs.” Among the projects onwhich the contractor is workingare three restaurants at LoganAirport.

“We are happy to have Glionnaas a new signatory contractor,”Vaughan adds.

During the second phase of theMerrimack Valley recovery, thegeneral contractor worked withthe plumbers and arranged as-sessments of the customers re-quiring new appliances. Theplumbing contractors then madearrangements to procure and in-stall clothes dryers, water heaters,boilers, and other fixtures. Manyof the replacements involvedolder gas boilers. Unlike the ini-tial recovery phase during thewinter, the plumbers could tem-porarily leave customers withoutheat in the late spring and sum-

Continued on page 8

PAGE 6

Boston Garden anchors The Hub on Causeway

what Latimer refers to as the“street-to-seat” experience forfans coming to the arena.

“You could live in an apart-ment here, and almost never haveto leave,” says Carl Wall, fore-man for American Plumbing andHeating. Between the grocerystore, the shops, the officeswhere residents could work, theeateries, and all of the activities,tenants wouldn’t even need to gooutside, he adds. Of course, ifthey did want to leave, theMBTA’s subway and commuterrail stations would just be an ele-vator ride away.

American has been handlingthe plumbing for the first and

second phases of the Hub project,which included the first officetower, the 440-unit residentialtower known as Hub50House,and the podium that connectseverything together. Wall is lead-ing a crew of 30 Local 12plumbers that is working on thethird and final phase of the proj-ect, which includes a 31-story of-fice tower totaling 525,000square feet. Verizon will be leas-ing 440,000 square feet of thespace. The building began goingvertical in February, and planscall for it to be completed in2021. American has two addi-tional crews inside the Garden.Wall estimates that there are ap-proximately 100 plumbers fromthe company on site.

According to Tim Fandel, busi-ness agent for Local 12, there areabout another 30 plumbers rep-resenting other shops that havebeen working on other aspects ofthe Causeway Street project.Throughout the four-year con-struction span of the Hub devel-opment, many GBPCAcontractors have been involvedincluding: JC Cannistraro, whichworked on the boutique, 272-room citizenM hotel; A. H.Burns, the plumbing contractorfor the Star Market grocerystore; Valante Mechanical, whichworked on the tenant fitout forRapid7, the cybersecurity firmwhich moved its headquarters toone of the office towers; DouglasR. Howard, which did some ofthe remodeling work inside TDGarden; and E.H. Marchant,which is handling the plumbingfor Big Night Live, the entertain-ment and nightlife space beingoperated by Big Night Entertain-ment and Live Nation.

Work on the 35,000-square-foot concert hall began in Apriland is scheduled to be turnedover in October. “This projecthas a very aggressive schedule,”Fandel says. “These guys hit theground running.” Big Night is ad-vertising shows planned for earlyNovember at the venue.

The multi-level club will in-clude five bars, two kitchens sup-porting two restaurants andprivate dining areas, and a totalof 44 toilets among Big Night’sbathrooms. Local 12 plumbersinstalled an array of eight Navientankless water heaters at the site.The units generate a tremendousamount of hot water virtually inan instant, according to MattWade, foreman for E.H.Marchant. The heaters, which arepiped in tandem, function as onemodular system.

“If there is a problem with oneunit, we can trade it out withoutimpacting the whole system,”Wade explains. “The Navienswork on demand. If there is lightuse, only one unit might kick on.

As demand increases, others willturn on.”

Big Night will accommodate asmany as 2,000 patrons, including1,500 in its main showroom.There will also be VIP rooms,along with bathrooms and prepkitchens on the 2.5 level abovethe performance space. The mez-zanine level is supported and sus-pended from a structure above,not down to the floor.

“That makes plumbing a chal-lenge,” acknowledges DavidStory, superintendent for TrinityBuilding and Construction, thegeneral contractor for the BigNight Live project. There was avery tight space for using build-ing information modeling (BIM)to coordinate the time-consum-ing, critical work performed bythe plumbers as well as the sprin-kler and HVAC contractors.

Another challenge that theproject posed was the soundacoustic work done on the highceilings to mitigate the music andnoise emanating from the concerthall. Kinetic hangers were used toframe the ceiling with four layersof drywall, which made it diffi-cult to rough in the mechanical

Continued from page 1

Local 12 plumber Charles Knightand foreman Matt Wade in frontof the Navien tankless waterheaters that the E.H. Marchantcrew installed at Big Night Live, anew entertainment venue at TheHub on Causeway.

Continued next page

The Hub’s office and residential towers will rise above and alongsidethe TD Garden.

PAGE 7

and plumbing systems.

“Having a subcontractor likeE.H. Marchant is great,” Storysays about the GBPCA shop.“They’ve done work like this be-fore. I know we can count onthem.”

In addition to the event space,Big Night will include tworestaurants operated by celebritychef Guy Fieri. One will beTequila Cocina, a 200-seat Mexi-can eatery.

As with many Boston con-struction sites, the logistics of ar-ranging deliveries and movingmaterials has proven to be diffi-cult for the plumbing contractorsat the Hub. In addition to havingno staging area, the crews havehad to contend with all of theactivity at the TD Garden, whichhas remained open throughoutthe project. Commuters usingthe North Station subway andcommuter rail trains compoundthe congestion.

“In 35 years, this is the tightestjob I’ve worked on,” says Ameri-can Plumbing’s Wall. All deliver-ies need to be scheduled inadvance and carefully orches-trated. Unplanned events canthrow a curve ball—or a puck—at the process. When the Bruinswere in the playoffs, for example,the city closed down some of thestreets around the site, and theproject’s loading docks were in-accessible. “And we didn’t evenwin the Stanley Cup,” notes Wallwith a laugh.

Prefabrication has been playinga big role in the job, the Ameri-can Plumbing foreman notes,adding that nearly everything forthe job is built at the contractor’sshop. “While the steel is goingup, we’re already prefabbing allof our gang bathrooms.”

“The Hub is a four-year proj-ect,” says Fandel. “Without pre-fab and other efficiencies, itwould be a six-year project.”

At 60,000 square feet, the newStar Market is Boston’s largestgrocery store. Built above agarage, the entire plumbing sys-tem is embedded in the market’sceiling. When coordinating in-stallation, the A. H. Burns crewhad to consider a second plumb-ing system in the ceiling, whichservices the new food court lo-cated directly above the Star mar-ket in the Garden.

One of the American Plumbingcrews working on the TD Gardenexpansion is also on a tightschedule according to its fore-man, Jack Whalen. The team of22 plumbers began working inMay and is scheduled to wrap inSeptember. In order to handle theworkload, Whalen says the crewis working seven days a weekwith extended shifts on week-days. The expansion will add sev-eral women’s bathrooms to thearena as well as new bars andfood concessions.

“Getting access to the floors,especially on days when concertsor other events are scheduled, ishard,” Whalen says. “But we willget it all done. We always do.”

Building one of Boston’slargest, most upscale hotels

Continued from previous page

The Hub on Causeway

THE SWIFTLY EVOLVINGSEAPORT DISTRICT WILLBECOME EVEN MOREBUSTLING WHEN THEOMNI BOSTON HOTELAT THE SEAPORT OPENSIN 2021.

Now under construction, itwill bring an additional 1,055guest rooms to the neighbor-hood. The 21-story, 218-foot-tall project will be among thecity’s five largest hotels. TheOmni Seaport is budgeted at$550 million.

GBPCA contractor AmericanPlumbing and Heating was se-lected early in the process for thedesign-assist project and has beenworking with general contractorJohn Moriarty & Associates andCosentini Associates, the plumb-ing engineer. Design and prelimi-nary work began in the fourthquarter of 2018, and American’screw began underground installa-tion in early 2019. During thesummer, aboveground workbegan on the site.

Boasting 100,000 square feetof flexible meeting and eventspace across four levels, theOmni Seaport will feature theneighborhood’s largest ballroom.It will also offer 35,000 squarefeet of restaurant space, includingthe upscale French Brasserie. Tosupport all of the dining and en-tertainment needs, the project

will include 13 commercialkitchens.

“That’s quite unique for ahotel,” says Jim Bent, senior proj-ect executive for American. “Orany building for that matter.”

Noting that the building occu-pies virtually the entire footprintand that the site is “tighter thantight,” Bent adds that gettingmaterials delivered is a logisticalchallenge. He says Americanuses a “just-in-time” approach tominimize warehousing andavoid tying up capital. Materialsare only ordered when they canbe run through the company’slarge prefabrication shop andthe finished systems and assem-blies can be delivered to the jobsite (typically during off hours)to be installed.

“We need to make sure wehave everything on the truckthat we need for the floor onwhich we are working each day,”says Bent. In addition to the em-ployees working on the projectin the prefab shop, he estimatesthat there will be 30 Local 12mechanics on site at the heightof construction.

The Omni will include two 21-story towers with an 11-storytower in the middle that will fea-

The Omni Hotel will bring over 1,000 hotel rooms to the Seaport.

A mural at The Hub shows what the neighborhood looked like yearsago, including the elevated MBTA lines along Causeway Street

Continued on page 8

Plumbers & Gasfitters Boston Local 121240 Massachusetts Avenue

Boston, MA 02125617-288-6200

Editorial Board

Harry Brett

Business Manager, U.A. Local 12

Tim Fandel

Business Agent, U.A. Local 12

Roger Gill

Funds Administrator, U.A. Local 12

Jeremy Ryan

Executive Director, Greater Boston PCA

Joseph Valante

President, Greater Boston PCA

Omni hotel going up in Seaport

ture four “Cabana” levels. Athree-story ground-floor podiumwill anchor the towers. Amongthe hotel‘s amenities will be arooftop pool and a spa.

The significance of the projectis not lost on the plumbers. “Weknow that the Omni will take itsplace as one of Boston’s preemi-nent hotels,” says Tony Megnia,American’s foreman for the job.“It’s an honor for us to be an in-tricate part of the constructionof this new landmark in the Sea-port District.”

According to Bent, the chichotel will offer high-end finishesin the rooms and throughout thehotel, particularly in its 52 luxurysuites. There will be copperfaucets and trim in the showers,

The Pipeline is written and designed byArthur Levine, The ART of Communications

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mer without causing much dis-comfort. Hot water, however,remained a priority throughoutthe process.

The second phase ended inlate July. With the recovery pro-gram over, Vaughan says thataround 18,000 appliances werereplaced in total. “Now that wecan look back, the numbers arewild,” he notes.

There is another wild statisticto consider, according to thebusiness agent: There were 92plumbing inspectors on site dur-ing the recovery process.

Continued from page 5

The heat is on in Merrimack Valley

Continued from page 7 for example. One of the towerscalls for brushed bronze finisheson the fixtures.

“We will be installing elegantsoaking tubs and black lavato-ries,” notes Bent. “Omni is a re-spected brand with highstandards.”

Located adjacent to the BostonConvention and Exhibition Cen-ter, hotel guests will be able to di-rectly access the facility via atunnel below Summer Street. Thewalkway will also connect to anMBTA Silver Line station.

“They are the unsung heroes inthis,” says Vaughan. Consideringthe daunting task they faced, thechaos that they endured, and theurgent need that the emergencyrequired, he adds, “I don’t thinkthe inspectors got the credit theydeserved.”

The crisis may be over, but thatdoesn’t mean the plumbers willcompletely disappear fromLawrence, Andover, and NorthAndover.

“We will still be on call,”Vaughan says. “We need to makesure everything works, especiallyduring a cold snap.”

Foreman Tony Megnia at theOmni Seaport site.

Legislative update: Medicalgas and drain cleaning billsThere are two pieces of legisla-tion winding their ways throughthe State House that are of inter-est to the industry.

One would establish licensingstandards for medical gas pipingsystems, while the other woulddo the same for drain cleaners.Both of the bills were introducedearly in 2019, both have been re-ferred to the Joint Committee onConsumer Protection and Profes-sional Licensure, and both havehad public hearings conducted.

While licensed plumbers havetraditionally handled medical gasinstallations in the state, thereare no state regulations that gov-ern the practice. By establishingstandards and bringing medicalgas piping systems under thecontrol of the MassachusettsBoard of Examiners of Plumbersand Gasfitters, the pending billwould codify the work and helpensure patient safety. There havebeen some high profile cases inwhich medical gas cross connec-tions have caused severe injuriesand death.

Local 12 apprentices learn thecomplicated processes of brazingand medical gas systems at theunion’s training center. “It’s im-portant for medical gas to be partof the state’s plumbing code so it

can be properly regulated and in-spected,” says Rick Carter, thetraining center’s director.

Likewise, virtually anybody inthe state could purchase a truckand offer services as a draincleaning company. With no stateagency providing oversight, thiscan lead to shoddy work orworse. In 2016, two drain clean-ing company employees werekilled when a pipe burst in atrench at a construction site.

According to Harry Brett,Local 12’s business manager,drain cleaners sometimes per-form unlicensed plumbing workwhile making service calls. Thenew legislation would limit draincleaners to working with pipesconnected to fixtures such assinks and toilets, and prohibitthem from installing or cuttingany pipes. It would also requirethem to obtain board certifica-tion and complete at least 100hours of drain cleaning workunder a qualified supervisor suchas a licensed plumber.

Brett says that the two bills arecommon sense issues. “Whenthey put the mask on me before Igo under for surgery, I wouldsure want to know that a trained,certified plumber properly in-stalled the medical gas system.”