The Arlington training center’s exterior remodel is nearing completion! The new façade is part of an $800,000 upgrade that also includes new training equipment.
The SSMRC contributed $500,000 toward the building upgrade and the new equipment: two mechatronics/robot stations and a conveyor prop for training on floor conveyor and power and free monorail systems used in many manufacturing processes.
“The building in Arlington is a very nice building,” said Paul Jones, executive director, Gulf Coast Carpenters & Millwrights Training Trust Fund. “It has lots of space for training and it has wooden support beams – the same as the UBC training facility in Las Vegas. It just needed an upgrade, more curb appeal, because it’s a little dated.”
The 35,000-square-foot facility was built in the early 1980s using tilt-wall construction. Exterior walls are made of concrete.
The façade remodel includes:
- Removal of wings and earthen berms that covered one-third of some walls
- A complex drainage system to get water falling from the roof away from the building
- Replacing wood on the front of the building
- New signage and new paint in the beige, red, and blue UBC color scheme
- New landscaping
The center has received equipment for mechatronics/robot stations, and the conveyor equipment has been installed.
“The new conveyor and robot equipment will help because a lot of our members work at the GM plant right down the road,” Jones said.
The equipment is providing additional training opportunities for apprentices and members, and the Arlington training center staff will have an updated facility to showcase to contractors and potential industry partners.