Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding (FBS) broke ground on a new 19,000 sq. ft. machine shop at their Sturgeon Bay, Wis., location Friday.The 300-ft.-long building will feature two overhead cranes capable of lifting five and 30 tons, respectively. At the other end of the building there will be offices, restrooms, a lunchroom and a tool room. The facility will primarily support Bay Shipbuilding’s repair business.Planning for the new facility began nine months ago and A.C.E. Building Services is expected to complete it next year.“We are modernizing our infrastructure and replacing some very old buildings,” said Craig Perciavalle, FBS's vice president and general manager. “Not only will our Bay Shipbuilding team have an improved place to work year-round, but we believe that the use of this facility will reduce dust and noise impacts for those who live nearby the shipyard, as work that was previously completed outside will be moved inside the new building.” Perciavalle said that the project is the final piece of $70 million in investments made since 2020, which will “allow FBS to better support the critical repair service we provide the Great Lakes fleet, keep expanding our commercial new construction business, and to a lesser extent, grow the government side of our business.”
Historically FBS has supported sister shipyard Fincantieri Marinette Marine as they build warships for the Navy, with commercial repair and new construction remaining Bay Shipbuilding’s top priority, FBS said. FBS recently delivered the largest LNG bunkering barge ever built in the U.S. and the Great Lakes freighter Mark W. Barker. The Mark W. Barker is the first ship of its kind to be built by a Great Lakes shipyard in more than 35 years. Currently Bay Shipbuilding is building two additional LNG barges, both scaling larger than the LNG barge recently delivered. 
Rendering of future Building 110, courtesy of Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding.
