Ironworkers 8 - Iron Sharpens Iron 25th Anniversary

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Remembering Our Fallen Ironworkers

and Honoring the Building Trades

25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

COMMEMORATING OUR COLLECTIVE ACHIEVEMENT & LOSS

Brothers, Sisters and Special Guests,

IN REMEMBRANCE OF OUR FALLEN IRONWORKERS AND HONORING THE BUILDING TRADES

25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

Today, July 14, 2024, marks the 25th anniversary of a day that

profoundly impacted Ironworkers Local 8, the entire building trades

community, Milwaukee, the state of Wisconsin, and the Brewers

Organization. We are here to remember and honor the contributions

of Ironworkers Local 8 and all the Building Trades involved in the

construction of Miller Park on July 14, 1999.

On that day, three of our brothers from Local 8, Jeff Wischer, Bill

DeGrave, and Jerry Starr, tragically perished in the “Big Blue” crane

accident while attempting to set a section of the roof over the ballpark.

Ironworkers Local 8, the Milwaukee Building Trades, and all councils

of the Wisconsin Building Trades come together today to honor and remember these men.

25 th Anniversary

In Remembrance of Our Fallen Ironworkers


SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2024

As we gather to pay tribute to the lives lost in this accident, we also celebrate the resilience, dedication,

and craftsmanship of the numerous trades that played a vital role in constructing this iconic stadium.

Today, we demonstrate true solidarity in the way only Union Trades can, coming together as a large

community to honor our fallen brothers and celebrate the achievements of all the Building Trades.


Looking forward, we hope to continue this tradition of recognition. Our goal is to establish a

Building Trades Recognition Day on or close to July 14th every year, ensuring that the legacy of our

work and the memory of our fallen brothers endure for future generations.

Thank you for being here today to remember, honor, and celebrate with us.

Remembrance Ceremony at Miller Park Heroes Memorial

(located near Home Plate Gate)..................................................10:15 a.m.

Pregame Tailgate

(located in Uecker Parking Lot)...................................11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

In solidarity,

25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

Charlie Falkner, Business Manager / Treasurer

Ironworkers Local 8

1999-2024

This book was proudly produced by

First Pitch + Pregame Tribute Program.....................................12:45 p.m.

Brewers Vs. Nationals Game......................................................1:10 p.m.

Special Thanks Section:

Milwaukee Brewers

Don Browne

Photos courtesy of Milwaukee Brewers

Opening spread photo (‘Teamwork’ statue) courtesy of Frank Busalacchi

Head Historian: Calvin Jefferson

Art Direction: Andy Taucher

Layout & Design: Steven Demanett


25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

At approximately 5:12 on

the evening of Wednesday,

July 14, 1999, three local

members of the International

Association of Bridge, Structural,

Ornamental and Reinforcing

Ironworkers – Jeffrey Wischer,

William DeGrave and Jerome (Jerry)

Starr – lost their lives when a crane

nicknamed “Big Blue” collapsed while

lifting a section of the retractable

roof onto what would become the

new Miller Park baseball stadium in

Milwaukee when it opened in 2001.

As part of this commemoration to

honor these fallen brothers, retired

Ironworkers Local 8 Business Manager

Brent Emons and retired Teamsters

Local 200 Secretary/Treasurer Frank

Busalacchi, two union leaders who

played an integral role in the stadium

project and went to the park once they

were informed of the accident, share

their perspectives on the tragedy and the

Ironworkers who were lost.

‘THEY WERE ALL GOOD MEN’

“Me and Jerry (Starr) served our

apprenticeships together in the 1970s,

and we worked together,” Brent Emons

fondly remembered. “He left for a few

years and came back right before the





25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

Miller Park project. When I was at the

Pleasant Prairie Power Plant project, he

was an apprentice. I didn’t work with

Jeff (Wischer), but I worked with his

father, Rollie, and his brother, Dale. His

father helped me out a lot when I was

an apprentice. And after Bill (DeGrave)

became a journeyman, he and I worked

together on a big project. I went out

with Bill a few times for drinks after

work, and same with Jerry. They were all

good men.”

“I knew that they were a great bunch

to work with,” Frank Busalacchi recalled.

“We were getting a lot of pushback from

the media to see if the roof would work.

Putting on a roof meant more steel. You

needed a bigger area to store it, so all

that steel drew a lot of attention from

the press. Two of the Ironworkers took

Bob Uecker up there to see the roof in

progress. Uecker loved it! They were all

great guys. We could not have built that

stadium without the Ironworkers.”


THE STADIUM PROJECT WAS A

BIG WIN FOR ORGANIZED LABOR

According to Brother Busalacchi,

the new stadium project was the

result of many years of lobbying.

“We went through the whole

legislative process. I got involved since

our local had our own Political Action

Committee. I knew the legislators and

knew the governor. We got it done and

I insisted all along that this had to be

a project-labor agreement. It was a big

project with a lot of jobs, and they had

to be union jobs.

“Lyle Balistreri was heading the

building trades back then, and we

engaged with a lot of different people and

groups. We got the legislators moving

in the right direction, and after much

debate, it passed. All the building unions

signed the project-labor agreement. The

workers were so glad to have a job that

was so visual, so good for their union.

“I was a big baseball fan, so I was

thrilled to be working on the new

stadium. All the trades were really

great, but there was nobody like the

Ironworkers. They were the meat and

potatoes behind getting this project

done. And Brent Emons was fantastic.”

Brother Busalacchi was one of the

strongest advocates for putting a roof on

the stadium: “There were only a couple

people on my side at the time. I reasoned

that the roof would cost a lot more, but

it was worth it. We haven’t had a rainout

since the park opened.”

25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

Brother Emons remembered how

excited the Ironworkers were about

constructing the roof: “It was one-ofa-kind

design with the fanning, and we

were the right guys to build it.”

1999-2024

Busalacchi agreed wholeheartedly:

“The Ironworkers were the best.

Big Blue maneuvers a section onto the new stadium structure Wednesday afternoon, July 14th, 1999.

Photos courtesy of © Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – USA TODAY NETWORK

They had a construction elevator

operated by a guy named Gary Wessel

(who was a Congressional Medal

of Honor winner for his service in

Vietnam). We were both ‘south-siders’

and were good friends. They were all

like Gary.


25 th Anniversary

“The Ironworkers had nothing to do

with causing that accident. They were in

a dangerous occupation, and everyone

was aware of that.”

JULY 14,

1999-2024

THAT FATEFUL DAY, JULY 14, 1999

On the day of the accident,

Brother Starr was a steward

and Brother Wischer and

Brother DeGrave were both foremen

Aftermath of the July 14, 1999, tragedy

at the Miller Park construction site.





25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

on the stadium project. They were all

in another crane’s basket watching the

pick. One guy was watching the swing,

another was watching the cable. They

were 300 feet in the air when their

basket was hit by the collapsing “Big

Blue” crane.

Brother Busalacchi remembered that a

scheduled lift was canceled earlier that

day because of the wind: “I was there in

the morning and saw that they stopped a

lift in progress because it was too windy.

I then went downtown to meet with a

local alderman. I was heading back to

my Local (200) when my lobbyist for

the stadium called me and said, ‘Get

over to the stadium now. There’s been a

terrible accident!’”

The construction entrance was from

the outfield, but Brother Busalacchi

entered from behind home plate. “The

other side where the track beam was

located (where the roof rotated) was

behind home plate,” he recalled. “In

right field, that whole portion went

down. When I went into right field,

all the steel was laying there and it was

creaking. I could see the firefighters

working on the three Ironworkers. The

firefighters knew they were dead but

were trying to recover the bodies.”


When Brother Emons first received

the news, he was in Northern Michigan.

“I was at a jurisdictional dispute about

re-work on the Mackinac Bridge,” he

remembered. “The southern end of the

bridge fell into Michigan’s jurisdiction,

so there was a dispute over who was

responsible. I got a message at the hotel

where I was staying. As soon as Debbie

(from the Local 8 office) told me, I got

in my car and drove back from Cadillac

(Michigan) through Indiana and

Chicago and finally to the site.

“When I got there it was dark.

County Sheriff Baldwin let me into the

stadium. It was dark inside, too. I then

went back to the Local 8 office and met

with all the Ironworkers independently

to find out what happened. From

everything I gathered, it was a 450-

ton piece. ‘Big Blue’ could pick up

a lot, but you don’t want to go over

90 percent of a crane’s capacity – and

they did that day. Some members of

our union questioned the weight and

the wind, but the engineers on site

‘assured them’ everything was ‘OK.’”

25 th Anniversary

“The tragedy was just awful,” Brother

Busalacchi said. “To see those young

men laying there at the bottom of the

stadium is just something I will never

forget. I was the Construction Chair, so I

went to all the funerals. It was something

that – for a couple of years – I didn’t feel

right going to the ballpark. I felt so bad.

These guys had families.”

JULY 14,

1999-2024


25 th Anniversary

William R. DeGrave

1960 - 1999

Jerome Starr

1947 - 1999

JULY 14,

1999-2024

Jeffrey A. Wischer

1958 - 1999





25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

DAMAGE CONTROL,

FOCUS ON SAFETY

For Brother Busalacchi, his priority

in the aftermath of the tragedy

was managing the media while

also working to ensure the safety of the

working conditions.

“We had the media telling all kinds of

false stories, so I organized media tours

with the fans, making sure they had a

complete understanding of the safety

‘TEAMWORK’

On August 24, 2001, the Miller Park Heroes

were unveiled with a 12-foot, 4-inch bronze

statue called ‘Teamwork,’ honoring Local 8

Ironworkers Jeffrey Wischer, William DeGrave and

Jerome “Jerry” Starr. The event, held prior

to the Brewers vs. Colorado Rockies game,

saw building trades members, families, and

community supporters gathering to celebrate

the contributions of all workers involved in the

construction of Miller Park. The 26,500 square

foot Workers Walkway includes bronze plates

listing the names of all 5,000 workers who

helped build the stadium.

rules,” he recalled. “We’d take them

through the park and show them what it

would look like. All the fans recognized

that those Ironworkers were such a huge

part of this effort.”

Brother Emons chose to avoid the

media as much as possible and put

his focus on the safety of his Local 8

members on the job.

“We wanted to take the higher road so

we did not want to engage in pointing

fingers with the media. But we made

it very clear that the Ironworkers were

not going back to work until we got the

authority to make the decisions on the

site regarding our work,” he asserted.

“The Stadium Board supported me. The

job would not have been finished if Local

8’s demands weren’t met. There was a

water main break underground (because

of the accident) and they were afraid

it was going to flood the VA Hospital.

They were busy moving all that weight

from the accident and needed all the

help they could get.


25 th Anniversary

“I told them I don’t care if the whole VA

shuts down, I want something in writing

stipulating that the Ironworkers called

the shots. We had people with practical

experience in the ironworking industry,

so we started making those decisions.”

JULY 14,

1999-2024

According to Brother Emons, a lot of

the Ironworkers questioned the wind

and the weight prior to the accident,

“and they lied to us. You have to trust the

people with the training, who developed

the skills to know how.”


A COMMITMENT TO FINISHING

THE JOB & HONORING THE

‘MILLER PARK HEROES’

25 th Anniversary

Although there were some

Ironworkers who struggled

with returning to the job,

Local 8, the Teamsters and the rest of

the building trades believed that the

best way to honor the fallen Miller Park

Heroes was to complete the project.

JULY 14,

1999-2024

“We’re going to build it. We’re going

to finish it. That’s what I remember a lot

of us saying repeatedly when we returned

to work after the accident,” Brother

MILLER PARK

(NOW AMERICAN FAMILY

FIELD SINCE 2020)

Broke Ground: November 9, 1996

Opened: April 6, 2001

Construction cost: $400 million ($688 million in

2023 dollars)

Seating Capacity: 41,900

Size of Building: 1.2 million square feet and 25 acres

Size of Overall Site: 265 acres

Weight of Structure: 500,000 tons or

62,500,000 16-pound bowling balls

Weight of Roof: 12,000 tons

Span of Roof: 600 feet covering 10.5 acres

Height of Roof above the Playing Field at the

Peak: 330 feet

Cubic Yards of Excavation: 165,000 or roughly

16,500 full dump trucks

Total Cubic Yards of Concrete: 70,000

Total Tons of Structural Steel: 24,000

Total Tons of Rebar: 8,500

Total Concrete Piers Drilled: 321

Total Steel Foundation Piles Driven: 1,576

Source: MLB.com

(Continued after the following spread.)






25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

CONSTRUCTION OF MILLER PARK IN THE LATE 1990s


25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024





25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

The Workers Walkway outside Miller Park with the “Teamwork” tribute statue to Local 8

Ironworkers Jeffrey Wischer, William DeGrave and Jerome “Jerry” Starr in the foreground.

Busalacchi recalled. “They got special

trailers to cut the steel and move it to a

place to refabricate what was salvageable.

During this time, they found another

crane from China called the ‘D-Mag’

that was bigger than Big Blue. It took

200 truckloads to deliver the D-Mag. It

was red and gray, and it took a couple

of weeks to assemble. This new crane

helped us accelerate the work.”


During a Stadium Board meeting,

when the project was in its final stages of

construction, Brother Busalacchi asked if

the board could go into a closed session.

“The press hated when we did that,”

Busalacchi remembered. “But I came

from an old Italian family, and we had a

tradition that called for a priest to bless

a new home or building. It cost three

lives to build the stadium, so I lobbied

for a special event with various religious

leaders to come in and give a blessing

– especially the Native Americans. They

were so entrenched with the Ironworkers.

25 th Anniversary

JULY 14,

1999-2024

“I got approval from the board and

on the day of the blessing, Archbishop

Wakeland, the Native Americans and

other religious leaders put on a very

special ceremony on behalf of those

three men. It was low key and respectful.

Most people don’t know it ever took

place because there was no press and no

photos taken.”

The Ironworkers also had a ritual at

the end of a project, but Brother Emons

decided it should be open to the public.

“We always had an Ironworkers

“topping-off’ ceremony where we would

paint the last piece (or iron) white,”

Emons explained. “I suggested we open

this event up and sign the last piece. I

grabbed 100 toy spud wrenches to give

to the kids. We expected a few hundred

people to show up. Instead, I ran out of

those toys in 15 minutes because 4,000-

plus people turned out to sign the last

girder! The governor came, too! We used

to paint over it, but not this time!


“The community was so supportive.

Bob Habush paid for the wall. Wendy

Selig approved the statue and wall with

everyone who worked on the project.”

25 th Anniversary

For Brent Emons and Frank Busalacchi,

the legacy of the Miller Park Heroes is

twofold. First, there’s a never-ending

commitment to improving occupational

safety, especially for the high-risk work

that Ironworkers and other building

tradesmen and women do. The statue

in honor of Jeffrey Wischer, William

DeGrave and Jerome “Jerry” Starr outside

Miller Park is also a tribute to all the other

JULY 14,

1999-2024

Local 8 Ironworkers who lost their lives

on different projects over the local’s more

than 128 years of service to the region.

“We were the first local to lose a female

iron worker – Robin Johnson,” Brother

Emons said. “There have been new

OSHA laws enacted since. Back in the

1970s, when I was working, nobody tied

off. Today, everyone ties off. I’m glad the

working conditions are safer now for the

Ironworkers.”

The second legacy is the stadium itself;

what is now called “American Family

Field.” It is without a doubt one of the

great jewels of the City of Milwaukee

and Major League Baseball.

“It is a shining example of what the

Ironworkers and other building trades

and a very supportive community can

achieve when we work together,” Brother

Emons proclaimed.

“The finished product with the roof

was an incredible sight to see,” Brother

Busalacchi beamed. “People don’t realize

what it takes to construct a building of

that size – it requires so much steel. I

would go to the games and look around

and say, “WOW” – and this doesn’t

happen without the Ironworkers.

“It was a special place, and it still is.

It gave the unions a chance to show off

– and it made us better. Those stadium

builders were union guys, and I was

proud of all of them.” •

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Ironworkers 8 - Iron Sharpens Iron 25th Anniversary

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