Union Ironworker Dies At Joliet, Plainfield Construction Site Known As The Boulevard Place: Lawsuit Names 4

JOLIET, IL —A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed at Will County's Courthouse in connection with the recent death of an ironworker who lost his life at the major Joliet-Plainfield commercial development known as The Boulevard Place.

The construction site where Thomas Kircher died is a future spec building for a small commercial strip mall. The property is adjacent to the future restaurant for Longhorn Steakhouse, which is expected to be finished and open this spring, workers told Joliet Patch on Friday. One construction worker at the Longhorn Steakhouse project informed Patch that OSHA was on the site of the fatality the day after the ironworker died on Dec. 15.

On Friday morning, that particular construction site was empty.

"I am so saddened to hear my fellow brother Ironworker and friend Tom Kircher lost his life on the jobsite," Democrat State Representative Harry Benton of Plainfield announced last week. "He cared so much about being union, an ironworker in Ironworkers Local 444 Union Hall, a caring and good person, but what he was proud of most was his family. He was a good dad and good person.

"A reminder that life is precious, and can be taken in an instant, especially in our trade. You will be missed dearly and my thoughts and prayers go out to all your family and friends. Hug your loved ones a little tighter this holiday season, because they are a gift."

Benton has started a GoFundMe to help Kircher's family "in their time of need."

According to the wrongful death lawsuit, Thomas Kircher is survived by two sons, Alexander and Joseph Kircher, "both of whom suffered pecuniary loss as a result of his death including loss of love, affection, companionship, guidance, society and caused them to endure substantial sorrow, grief and mental suffering."

The lawsuit was filed by Amanda Martin of Chicago's Disparti Law Group. The lawsuit names CBRE, a Delaware corporation, Vequity Construction, a Delaware corporation, Nick's Metal Fabricating and Sons, an Illinois corporation, and Novak Construction Company, another Illinois corporation, as the defendants. CBRE is the commercial developer for The Boulevard, and company vice president Mario Melone operates a website showcasing the major development along Interstate 55 and Route 30.

The wrongful death lawsuit seeks a judgment in excess of $50,000 from a Will County jury.

According to court documents, The Boulevard Place is a mixed-used development of 172 acres in both Joliet and Plainfield at the northwest corner of I-55 and Route 30 and "on or before December 15, this project was actively still under construction ... Thomas Kircher was employed as an ironworker, with the assigned task of working on the structural steel components of a certain segment of the project and was then and there lawfully and properly on and upon said premises in furtherance of his work ... a piece of steel fell upon the decedent, Thomas Kircher, striking him and causing him to sustain severe and permanent injuries ... that led to his eventual death on Dec. 15, 2025."

The lawsuit against CBRE alleges premises liability, contending that CBRE "failed to provide adequate safeguards to prevent the plaintiff from injury while lawfully on said premises" and "allowed dangerous work conditions to be present when the defendant knew should have known through the exercise of reasonable care, that said conditions would expose workers, such as plaintiff, to unreasonable hazards while performing their work."