AC3 is our licensed training site in Lansing — where Opportunity Knox apprentices learn the trades by building real things for the community.
When downtown Lansing needed vendor stalls for the Kringle Holiday Market, Opportunity Knox apprentices took it on. We did the full fabrication of these sheds at AC3 — 500 E. Thomas St, Lansing, MI 48906 in the middle of winter: framing the floors, building and labeling every wall, and cladding the panels indoors where the crew could keep working no matter the weather.
Once the panels were finished, we loaded them with our telehandler, chained them down, and trucked them across town to Reutter Park in downtown Lansing — through the season’s first snow — where the crew raised them on site and finished in time for Silver Bells.
The gallery below follows that build from the AC3 floor to opening night downtown. Hover any photo for the detail; click to view it full size.
500 E. Thomas St, Lansing — built indoors through the dead of winter by Opportunity Knox apprentices.
Lifted, chained down, and hauled across town through the season’s first snow.
Assembled on site in downtown Lansing — finished in time for Silver Bells.
Opportunity Knox apprentices completed their asbestos and lead abatement coursework right here at AC3 — 500 E. Thomas St, Lansing, MI 48906. Rather than rely on a classroom alone, our team transformed the rooms into full containment work areas — poly sheeting, taped critical barriers, negative-air filtration, and a multi-stage decontamination chamber — so the crew could practice the exact field procedures onsite, safely, before stepping onto a live job.
Asbestos Abatement
Contractor Supervisor
First Aid / CPR
Lead Abatement
Worker / Supervisor
OSHA 30
Building the containment and decon setup at AC3 — from poly walls and critical barriers to the finished negative-air work area.
A separate session at AC3 — apprentices training on heavy equipment and lot/asphalt site preparation.
Where most crews would send a building to the landfill, Opportunity Knox apprentices take it apart by hand. Working board by board, they carefully salvage framing lumber, doors, windows, and fixtures so those materials can live a second life instead of becoming waste. It is harder, more skilled work than swinging a wrecking ball — and it is exactly the kind of training that builds careers and protects the environment.
That commitment comes full circle on this very page: the reclaimed wood pulled from this deconstruction was cleaned up and repurposed — some of it became the lumber for the Kringle Holiday Market sheds our crew fabricated at AC3 and raised at Reutter Park. One project’s waste became another project’s building material. That is what doing our part to be green looks like in practice: keeping construction & demolition debris out of the landfill, stretching every dollar, and giving good materials a second purpose in our own community.
This work is part of a broader regional effort. The Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council features Opportunity Knox as a workforce-development partner in its construction & demolition waste-diversion project, with founder Derrick Knox presenting on training and wrap-around services alongside Michigan State University, EGLE, and the Ingham County Land Bank.
Taking a structure apart by hand to recover usable lumber — materials that get repurposed instead of landfilled.
More training projects and shop sessions from AC3 are on the way — check back soon.
