The new Chase Center at 1 Warriors Way in Mission Bay officially opened September 6th, 2019 with the first event to be hosted at the venue, a Metallica concert with the San Francisco Symphony.
Mortenson/Clark, a joint venture between Clark Construction Group and Mortenson Construction led the 30-month Chase Center project with Priority Graphics partnering with Jones Construction ( out of Green Bay, Wisconsin), Citybuild and the Carpenters Union Local #22 for signage installation. The Clark/Mortenson team handed over the keys to the Chase Center Operations Team for the $1.4 billion facility on August 1. The project scope included a state-of the-art 18,000-seat arena, two office buildings, 100,000 square feet of mixed-use/retail space, and underground parking with more than three acres of adjacent plazas, landscaping and other public spaces.
Priority Graphics’ longstanding local relationship with the Carpenters’ Union was instrumental to the successful recruiting and use of apprentice carpenters for the sign installation of 2,500+ signs at Chase Center. The Priority team worked closely with Citybuild, the city of San Francisco’s local hiring department, to connect local installers with Citybuild so that signage could be implemented in time to meet project deadlines.
CityBuild, a program that secures employment for San Francisco residents in various construction trades through comprehensive pre-apprenticeship training, worked with Priority Architectural Graphics to train and hire local talent from under-served communities for the Chase Arena Project. Ken Nim, the newly appointed Director of CityBuild, oversaw this partnership and had this to say:
“Priority Architectural Graphics was a great LBE partner on the Chase Arena Project. They hired the 100th Chase Center Graduate from the Job Readiness Program, which was developed to get community members engaged and prepared for a job in the construction industry. Overall, they hired four employees from CityBuild for the Chase Center Project and several have continued on with other projects managed by Priority Graphics. CityBuild is designed to engage local Bay Area hires with businesses working on construction projects, and Priority Architectural Graphics sign installation work at Chase Center is a great example of this process in action.”
Installation Manager for Priority Graphics, Andy Ceja notes “Working at Chase Center was an amazing experience to be part of. Teaming up with Jones Sign Company (Greenbay, WI), our local Bay Area sign installers worked carefully and meticulously to make sure that our work would represent Priority Graphic’s high standards for sign installation. Knowing that Chase Center will be a focal point for the San Francisco community for years to come, we worked tirelessly to guarantee that communication between Jones, Priority, and the installers in the field were maintained in order to ensure that our work would only enhance the overall look and functionality of this impressive new Bay Area landmark.”
