The Tri-City chapter of the International Brotherhood of

Electrical Workers has moved into a new building that nearly triples its space.

IBEW Local 112 began moving at the end of July into the new

$3.4 million union hall at 114 N. Edison St. in Kennewick, just south of

Clearwater Avenue and east of Marineland Plaza.

The new facility replaces the union hall that’s been at 2637

W. Albany Ave. near Kennewick Avenue and Vista Way since 1967.

The 14,000-square-foot building serves 800 members in eight

counties in southeast Washington and eight counties in northeast Oregon.

The project included about 9,000 square feet of office space

and 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.

The general contractor was Total Site Services, based in

Richland. Meier Architecture Engineering of Kennewick did the design work.