Later today, students from Bradley Tech High School will show off their latest project.
Their “garage extraordinaire” is located off North Avenue in the Riverwest neighborhood.
The structure incorporates the latest in green technology and will feature a year-round rooftop garden.
Organizers says “Growing Spaces” is the first project of its kind in the United States.
WUWM Environmental Reporter Susan Bence paid the construction site a few visits to see the project take shape from the ground up.
Walking down the alley on this warm late summer morning, you hear the sound of shovels meeting stone. Willie Sinclair’s team is tossing small rocks around the garage foundation.
“Yeah we got to fill in all this stone so it drains properly,” Sinclair says.
The two-and-a-half-car “state of the art” garage is taking shape downhill from an 1890 vintage house. So when it’s complete, the top of the garage will be an extension of the backyard.
Growing Power, Milwaukee’s hallmark urban agriculture program, will then provide year-round training atop.
Sinclair says students will construct a work shed up there for the gardeners and a heating system to keep the soil warm in winter.
“We’re going to use two types of solar panels on the roof; thermal solar and then we’re also going to have photovoltaic solar panels because what we want to do is power the garage and the garden, whatever power we’re going to be, we want to be self-sufficient,” Sinclair says.
The journeyman plumber heads Bradley Tech’s construction academy.
So far, his students have built four, four-foot high garage walls.
“This is a product called wood concrete, alright, which is a mix of wood and concrete, which is a green material,” Sinclair says.
He says the bricks have really caught on in Europe because they both breathe and insulate.
“They’re stacked kind of like Legos. You can notice that we have little ridges in here and we put alignment shims, little pieces of wood,” Sinclair says.
This project is a big deal.
Lowe’s hardware is contributing more than $140 thousand worth of building materials. Sinclair says his students will gain an edge in the market.
“They’re getting advanced knowledge in green construction. You see that’s something that a lot of people in the field….you know they’re hungry for it. These kids are getting first hand,” Sinclair says.
A cement mixer rumbles into the alley. Sinclair helps the driver negotiate the narrow passage.
“Come back toward you! Whoa, whoa,” Sinclair says.
While Sinclair shovels the soupy substance down the shoot and into the hollow blocks, his students pump long rods up and down to make sure the mix completely fills each block.
“Watch the rod, watch the rod,” Sinclair says.
The students don’t communicate quite as quickly as Sinclair would like.
“How are we, over there by you? Talk to me man,” Sinclair says.
Junior, Charlie Castrejon says he feels like he’s just getting the hang of this project. He’s most interested in learning how to wield a hammer.
“Yeah, I was waiting for this,” Castrejon says.
The Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board paid Castrejon and three more students to work on the project over the summer.
Kate Halfwassen says a lot of the teens come from single parent families who rely on their kids to help make ends meet. So the project addresses quite a few needs.
Halfwassen and her husband own the house and evolving garage.
“We wanted to do something green in the Riverwest neighborhood when we moved here. And we were talking about building a green garage and we wanted to partner with a local high school,” Halfwassen says.
Fast forward to this month.
School is back in session. The garage walls have reached their full height and the crew finished installing a heated floor and roughed in two large garage door spaces.
Today, an imposing crane is wedged in the alley.
Owner Kate Halfwassen stands nearby, watching 32-foot long beams, called spancrete, float through the air. She’s clutching a designer’s rendition of the plans and appears awestruck at what’s taken shape over the last two years.
“I never thought we would get here. But if I could do it all over, I would do it exactly the same way,” Halfwassen says.
While Halfwassen savors in the big picture, instructor Willie Sinclair remains focused on details.
The last time I see him, he’s teaching students the art of dumping a wheelbarrow.
“They got to learn how to tip, how to dump, how to strategically locate the dump and all that. The first few times, they just dumped them right over, because they’ve never done that before. So you know, you’re gaining that experience. That’s what we give them,” Sinclair says.
After the dumping lesson, it’s time for Sinclair to shuttle the crew back to school.
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