History Timeline

Gilbane is one of the largest privately, held family-owned construction and real estate development firms in the industry. This timeline provides a brief overview of the Gilbane family history and Gilbane’s evolution from a carpentry business to a global firm.

Thomas Gilbane, his wife and young son William immigrated to America in 1845 from County Leitrim in Ireland at the height of the Great Irish Famine (also known as the Irish Potato Famine).

William was driven by the belief that hard work, attention to quality craftsmanship and basic honesty would carry him through the recession (1870-1879). These basic principles formed the cornerstone that Gilbane’s reputation is built upon.

In 1883, the brothers formalized their partnership by establishing “William Gilbane and Brother.” William Gilbane and Brother worked dusk to dawn, six days a week. They built homes so well the owners boasted (and still do) “Built by Gilbane” at resale.

Built between 1894-1895, the building was opened in 1896 and is still in operation today. Roger Williams Park Museum of Natural History and Planetarium is within Roger Williams Park in Providence, Rhode Island.

Built between 1896 and 1900, by William Gilbane and Bro., the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus was built in the romanesque style.

On April 23, 1897, a large kerosene lamp exploded in the shop of Gilbane Brothers on Centre Street. The entire building was engulfed in flames. A small amount of lumber stored across the street was all that remained. Losses exceeded the insured amount. Thankfully the company’s books were locked in a fireproof safe and were not destroyed in the fire. This tragedy did not stop the brothers and their company. The company went straight back to work to ensure that their customers were not affected.

In 1900, the Gilbanes were contracted to build a colonial revival brick and marble house for Brown President, William Faunce on the corner of Hope and Manning Streets. This was the beginning of Gilbane’s long-standing relationship with Brown University.

In 1902, the company won a major contract to build Providence’s new Central Fire Station, the largest public project at the time.

William H. Gilbane, son of William Gilbane became the second company president when his father retired in 1909. William ran the company through a poor economy. Loyalty and dedication became deep-rooted values. 90 Calverly St. Providence, RI becomes company headquarters.

William J. Gilbane and Thomas F. Gilbane take over as President and Vice President.

Following the sucess of the Navy work, Gilbane secured a national client in General Motors. In 1946, Gilbane built GM’s new assembly plant in Framingham, MA worth $12 million. It was the largest industrial plant in New England at the time. This was Gilbane’s first significant out-of-state project and marked a major milestone in the company’s development. The relationship with GM grew and in 1957, Gilbane was awarded the Fisher Body Plant project in Mansfield, OH.

Up until this time, equipment for very large jobs had to be subleased. On the General Motors job in Massachusetts, the excavation subcontractor suddenly went out of business and Gilbane was left stranded. “Without hesitation, we jumped in and arranged to buy the equipment we needed,” said Bill Gilbane, Sr. BT Equipment Company became a tremendous asset to the business. BT referring to Bill and Tom Gilbane.

Gilbane wins contract to build the world’s largest closed die forging press for Wyman-Gordan Co.

The 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair hailed itself as a “universal and international” exposition. Gilbane built the iconic egg-shaped IBM Corporation pavilion for the Fair. Gilbane also built the India Pavilion, the Hawaii Pavilion and the New England States Pavilion.

It was critical that the museum be ready for the nation’s bicentennial celebration on July 1, 1976. At a time when government projects were seldom completed as planned, this project was completed on time and under budget. The end result is a stunning piece of history that we can all be proud of.

In 1978, Gilbane broke ground on its new corporate headquarters in Providence, RI. The design was planned to reflect the strong, forward-looking corporate image. On March 7, 1980, the brick four-story building opened its doors

The ice arena — home of the lengendary “Miracle on Ice” game — was a huge triumph for Gilbane. The inflexible deadline and strict budget imposed by the Olympic Committee presented great challenges.

Gilbane built the Cleveland Clinic building, a 617,800 SF, 13-story freestanding ambulatory care facility that marked the start of numerous projects with the Clinic.

Work on site began March 16, 1982, five days after the design and plans received final Federal approval, and broke ground on March 26, 1982. The completed Vietnam Veterans Memorial was accepted by the President of the United States on November 10, 1984. Etched into the marble walls are the names of the nation’s 58,000 dead and missing of the Vietnam conflict.

This project included a biopharmaceutical manufacturing building, a laboratory/ office facility, warehouse, and support buildings on a 100-acre greenfield site.

The Memorial is the first national memorial dedicated to those who served during World War II and is located at the east end of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.

In 2004, Thomas F. Gilbane Jr. is named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Gilbane Building Company

The new state-of-the-art Innovation and Technical Center boasts customer application suites, research and development labs, culinary facilities, sensory services and a vast commercialization center dedicated to customer production commercialization.

The project comprised of approximately 22,375 square feet space adjacent to State Department’s old War Department Building along 21st Street, NW, in Washington, DC.

In June 2014, Michael McKelvy has joined the company as President and Chief Operating Officer. He became CEO in 2016.

The largest project in Gilbane’s history, the ExxonMobil campus in Houston reaches completion. The complex covers 385-acres and is home to 10,000 workers. It features 14 office buildings, three parking garages, state-of-art central utility plant and several other buildings. The project achieved 17 million hours worked without a lost-time incident.

Gilbane established its Los Angeles region, formally entering that urban marketplace.

Creating New Icon in Manhattan’s Skyline, read more here.

Gilbane CEO Tom Gilbane, Jr., served as ACE Mentor Program of America’s national chairman.

Gilbane launched our construction industry-first family leave benefit, offering employees four weeks of Paid Family Leave that can be used in a single block of time or intermittently.

The Afghanistan Ministry of Defense in Kabul and the Kerry Foods Global Technology and innovation Centre in Naas, Ireland are named winners of ENR’s Best Projects Awards. The Ministry of Defense won the military category and the Kerry Centre won for Manufacturing.

Gilbane Inc. completed a $10-million renovation of its Providence headquarters

Gilbane completed the world’s largest brewery, the Constellation Brands facility in Nava, Mexico.

Gilbane’s Japan office celebrated its 15-year anniversary.

Gilbane created Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to support inclusion, diversity, and belonging at the company. Each employee-led group has a mission and targeted demographic, but any employee can join any group as an ally.

Gilbane finished construction on the award winning Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The Gilbane-built Nathan Deal Judicial Center in Atlanta, GA opened to the public with Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and Georgia native, Clarence Thomas attending the ribbon cutting.

Gilbane started work on the HARIBO of America production facility in Pleasant Prairie, WI.

Gilbane completes work on the Edge, the highest observation deck in Western Hemisphere, including its restaurant, interactive exhibit space, and event hall.