Iron workers, some veterans themselves, hail “topping off” of Holyoke Veterans Home

HOLYOKE — Anthony Lee, an apprentice iron worker and veteran, can see the cranes at work on the new Veterans Home in Holyoke from his house.

Lee’s favorite part of the day is his drive to the jobsite, which he calls “the office,” with clouds resting in the valley, the sun rising above the building, surrounded by mountain views.

On Thursday, he was among those who witnessed a crane hoist the last beam up into the air and place it at the top of the building.

Lee likens watching the crews work together at the site to a symphony.

“It’s a massive project and very visible. There are about 400 tradespeople … working on this project. It is not just our union. It’s going to be a local monument by the time we’re done,” he said.

Lee, a veteran of the Massachusetts Air National Guard from 2009 to 2015 who served as a geospatial intelligence analyst, is now a member of the Ironworkers Local 7 based in Boston.

Lee aims to raise awareness about the project, highlighting the importance of union work and the meticulous care being taken to build this facility for veterans.

There are about seven veterans, that Lee knows of, with the union on the project.

On Thursday, Gov. Maura Healey, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, Veterans Services Secretary Jon Santiago, and other officials joined the Ironworkers Local 7 union for a “topping off” ceremony at the site.

“It is my first one,” Lee said.

The ceremony is an iron working tradition where the highest and final beam is placed in the new facility, marking the completion of the building’s structure.

Lee, a first-year apprentice, has been on the job since June.

“A lot of apprentices when they’re working on their first structural jobs might not be there long enough to see the topping off of their own building they worked on,” he said.

Lee said when people ask him about it, he is proud to say the building is straight because of him.

“It feels better because I know I put like 80,000 screws in that building. I helped make sure all the beams were straight for like 240 veterans who are going to be taken care of in this facility. Something of that magnitude is the thing that always gets me,” he said.

Once completed, the Veterans Home at Holyoke will feature community spaces and will provide veterans with long-term care beds and critical nursing support.

“Constructed and designed to meet the changing medical needs and demographics of our veteran population, this new facility will bring new meaning to the Veterans Home in Holyoke’s mission of providing care with honor and dignity,” said state Sen. John C. Velis. The senator helps chair the legislature’s Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs.

Two, seven-foot beams — painted red, white and blue —were displayed in the lobby of the current home for about one week, offering veterans a chance to sign the beam, said Derek Reid, steel director with the union and U.S. Army Reserves veteran.

Another 30-foot-long beam was also painted and signed by those working on the job.

At the ceremony, the crew attached the 30-foot beam topped with a Christmas tree on one side and an American flag on the other to a crane and hoisted it to the top of the structure.

The small evergreen will stay on top of the building until project completion.

The topping off ceremony is a Scandinavian tradition where a tree is placed on top of a new building to appease spirits and symbolize the safe completion of the job, according to Reid.

Iron is like the bones or skeleton of the building, he said.

“Everything we do affects everyone who comes behind us,” said Reid, who has been on the site for two years.

To realize everything that has happened during the COVID-19 pandemic and the journey it took to get to the topping off ceremony made this project more special, he said.

During the early days of the pandemic, officials at the home made several missteps in managing the spread of COVID-19 — including combining two dementia units, 40 veterans in all, into a space intended for 25 patients.

As a result, 76 veterans in the facility died from the disease. The state paid out a $56 million settlement to their families and the incident spurred a push to create a new facility.

“Many veterans will come here one day to live out their lives, and it reminds me daily what I am doing is important,” Reid said.

Neal said as he was driving down Interstate 91 Thursday, he witnessed “a phoenix rising from the ashes.”

“We promised to deliver change with a home that our veteran community deserved. Today, we take a significant step forward in making that promise reality,” Neal added.

Healey said the project not only met but surpassed state goals for contracting and hiring workers including workers of color, women and veterans.

Healey said the occasion commemorates the generations of families from this area who have stepped forward to serve the country.

“This is a new chapter today; it is a world-class facility protecting and serving veterans the way they protected and served this country,” Healey said.

In the last 18 months, Executive Director Michael Lazo said the home has also improved its quality of care.

The home has recently achieved full accreditation from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, received its first-ever license from the Board of Public Health, and introduced a new emergency medical response system as of September.

Santiago said the state has also historically invested in veteran services and is engaging more veterans than ever before. That is a testament to the Healey administration’s leadership and vision, he said.

“We knew coming into this we would have a whole host of issues to address not just what has transpired during the pandemic but just in veteran’s services across the board,” he said.

Santiago said the staff, families and advocates of the home have been the heartbeat of the turnaround.

Santiago, paraphrasing a quote attributed to George Washington, said “you are able to recruit, retain support your military only if and when they see that their veterans are taken care of.”

“That is the point of today. We have invested in buildings and resource capital making sure that these veterans get the care they deserve and need,” Santiago said.

Construction on the new building is on schedule; it is expected to be complete in late 2026, with full site restoration anticipated by summer 2028.

This post was originally published on this site