An expansion plan approved nearly 20 years ago is underway for the local chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

IBEW Local 112 is building a new $3.4 million union hall that includes an auditorium on vacant land at 114 N. Edison St. in Kennewick, just south of West Clearwater Avenue and east of Marineland Plaza.

“We’ve been saving to build something like this since the 1990s,” said Travis Swayze, business manager and financial secretary for Local 112.

A motion to approve the project was made in 2001 and work began this fall.

The current union hall has been at 2637 W. Albany Ave. near West Kennewick Avenue and Vista Way since 1967.

The new building will nearly triple the space of the existing 5,000-square-foot building with  14,000 square feet. The cost of the project is being covered by the local union’s building account, which has steadily been funded over the years, mostly through union dues.

Swayze said there’s a need to expand due to the growing membership of the union, which covers eight counties in southeast Washington and eight counties in northeast Oregon, for a total of more than 800 members.

“For us to grow like we think we should, or we think we can, we need this new facility,” he said.

The site will include about 9,000 square feet of office space, including classroom labs, and a 5,000-square-foot auditorium, which will be available for rent to the community as a means of offsetting the building cost.

First established in 1947, Local 112 partners with the National Electrical Contractors Association, or NECA, to train apprentices who will work in the skilled trade as journeyman electricians.

IBEW Local 112 and NECA jointly purchased the 3.5-acre lot on Edison Street with plans to also add a new apprenticeship facility to the site in the next two to three years, moving its current electrical training center from 8340 W. Gage Blvd. in Kennewick.

“It’ll hopefully allow us to attract more electricians to become union members,” Swayze said. “Our goal, as a union, is to attract everyone, and get them under the union label to level the playing field. We feel like we have a wage compensation package that is fair, negotiated and fits the economics of the area. We offer dignity in retirement and give members a different opportunity.”

The general contractor on the project is Total Site Services, based in Richland, and the electrical work is being done by Pasco’s Power City Electric.

The building is expected to be complete in summer 2019.