Meet the Superintendent Working to Make a Difference in Construction
Date Posted: December 19, 2023
Posted In: People, Workforce,
From Bluebeam Blog: It’s pretty cool to think that a cure for Alzheimer’s or dementia could come out of this project that I’m involved in,” said Yelana Moton, an assistant superintendent at McCarthy Building Cos., of her current project, a 1.2 million-square-foot neuroscience research building on the Washington University School of Medicine campus in St. Louis.
One of the project goals is to foster better collaboration and innovation among all of the university’s researchers by bringing them together in the 11-story structure. Moton views the project’s purpose as inspiring and personal. “This project hits home for many of us, as everyone has a family member or someone close who has gone through this [Alzheimer’s or dementia]. This is not just a building but a project that could impact lives, which brings a greater purpose to the work,” she said.
In the family
The idea of going into construction started in Moton’s childhood. Her grandfather, with whom she was very close, owned a demolition business, and he used to tell stories about the industry, the connections he made with people and the opportunities he had. While driving around her hometown of East St. Louis, Illinois, he would point out the sites of buildings he demoed and where the bricks from particular buildings came from.
“Hearing the rich history and seeing the buildings excited me. I wanted to know more,” Moton said. By the end of elementary school, Moton was mimicking her grandfather in pointing out buildings. Buttresses to be exact.
Moton’s favorite subjects in school were math and science. “Anything in those realms caught my interest,” she said. Her school had a science fair in sixth grade. Moton was flipping through a library book to find ideas about what to present at the fair. She said, “I saw a building, and the book explained how structures are supported. You could make the project with a vegetable can and marbles, and it would resemble the buttresses on a cathedral-style building.”
Moton took the book home and showed her mom, who was skeptical. But Moton was all in. “Once I got the understanding of buttresses, we would drive around town, and I’d point them out to my family,” she said. “My father, who was also in HVAC and appreciated construction, and grandfather understood that my passion for construction was about to take off.”
Part of a team
Moton was always part of a team. It started with her close-knit family. The youngest of five children, Moton was a “super baby,” 12 years younger than her next oldest sibling. Moton’s oldest sister is 18 years her senior, and when strangers saw the two together, they assumed the sister was Moton’s mother. “My sister thought it was annoying, but I didn’t care. It was fun having older siblings—I was spoiled by all of them,” she said.