BC&E celebrates ribbon cutting of SAFE training center

After six years of work and a litany of construction challenges, BC&E members and residents of southwest Baltimore gathered in September for the official ribbon cutting of the SAFE Workforce Development Center.

A project of the nonprofit Safe Alternative Foundation for Education, the 3,200-square-foot center on South Payson Street includes a carpentry workshop and classroom spaces and will deliver National Center for Construction Education (NCCER) accredited training programs in construction trades. The organization expects to train a minimum of 100 people at the center annually.

“The community is excited about it” said Van Brooks, Founder of the Safe Alternative Foundation for Education. “It truly is one of the most disinvested communities in Baltimore City and certainly in southwest Baltimore. There has been no investment there in the past 10 to 15 years. So, to have someone bring in a facility that is going to bring resources and opportunities, the community loves it.”

The project, he noted, faced innumerable hurdles.

The plan was to create the training center in three vacant Baltimore rowhouses, including one that had been converted into a car wash. The buildings had experienced decay, water damage and renovations that made the proposed project especially challenging. The ground floor of the former carwash had been sloped for drainage and the upper floor raised to accommodate the car bay. Consequently, the floors of the three rowhomes did not align.

“At the very beginning, we had so many people telling us the property was a tear-down and we weren’t going to be able to retrofit it to create what we wanted,” Brooks said.

The BC&E Foundation, however, got involved in the venture and GWWO Architects developed a plan to salvage and transform the space.

“The Foundation is all about creating opportunities for the trades, so Van’s mission and our mission are in direct correlation,” said John Stahl, former president of the BC&E Foundation and Vice President Sales at Swirnow Building Systems. “What our members accomplished with the SAFE Workforce Development Center project is tremendous. The thing I love about our organization is we have members who are committed to the mission and are active doers. They actively put in the effort to make things happen.”

In total, 13 BC&E member companies committed to assist the project: Ariosa & Company, Baltimore Fabrication, Bunting Door & Hardware, Cap Ex Advisory Group, Excell Concrete Construction, GWWO Architects, Henry J. Knott Masonry, James Posey Associates, Leonard A. Kraus Co., MK Consulting Engineers, Swirnow Building Systems, Temp Air Company, and The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company. The companies donated professional and trade services and provided other work at low rates.

“The biggest lesson from the last six years, honestly, is that anything is possible with the right team, the right support,” Brooks said.

The first cohort of carpentry trainees is scheduled to start their studies at the center in November once the final finish work and furniture installation is complete.