VOLUME 10 ISSUE 4
$5.99 July-August 2021 Serving Contracting Firms and the Arizona Community. . . Then & Now
Arizona’s Timeless Magazine
CalPortland Celebrates Its 130th Anniversary Uncovering the Valley’s “Concrete” Convertible An Ode to the Humble Mid-Century Concrete Block Concrete: King of the Valley’s Roads Modernist Concrete Fountain Renews Tucson’s Plaza John Long Sets Superlite Block World Record Cook, West & West: A Ready-Mix Driving Family
Arizona's Cementitious Heritage
The Stack:
Phoenix’s Freeways Rise to the Challenge Ener-G-Block Finds KE&G Construction Salt River Materials FNF Construction Builds “Gateway DCS Contracting Provides A Home in Arizona “Bridges” Fort Huachuca Group “Harvests” Fly Ash Freeway” in Southeast Valley Access to Rancho Mercado
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July August 2021
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Weekend at Bernie’s
Breaking Away
Cool Hand Luke Wizard of Oz
Goonies & Dirty Dancing
Favorite Summer time movie?
Editor Douglas Towne douglas@arizcc.com
American Graffiti
For Information Contact: Brent Reuter (623) 695-1204 • brentr@rec-reuter.com www.reuterequipment.com
Publisher Billy Horner billy@arizcc.com
Contributors Heather M. David Michelle Dodds Ross Kimbarovsky Jennifer M. Levstik Luke M. Snell Doug Sydnor
Little Miss Sunshine Point Break
Production Manager Laura Horner laura@arizcc.com
Publisher’s Representative Barry Warner On Any Sunday barry@arizcc.com In Memoriam Charles “Chuck” Runbeck 1928 - 2020
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Arizona Contractor & Community (ACC) magazine is published bi-monthly (Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/June, July/Aug, Sept/Oct, Nov/Dec). ACC is a professional publication designed for the contracting industry, engineers, architects, equipment rentals, suppliers, and others interested in Arizona and its history. Content including text, photographs or illustrations may not be reproduced without the written permission from the publisher. The publisher does not assume responsibility for unsolicited submissions. ACC reserves the right to reject any editorial and advertising material and reserves the right to edit all submitted content material. Arizona Contractor & Community Copyright © 2021 All rights reserved.
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From The Editor - Uncovering the Valley’s “Concrete” Convertible - Douglas Towne Construction Around Arizona: Projects • People • Practices Back When - Subdivision Sculpture Douglas Towne
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CalPortland Celebrates 130 Years - Paid Advertorial
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The Stack: Phoenix’s Freeways Rise to the Challenge Douglas Towne
Mid-Century Modern Blockheads: An Ode to the Humble Concrete Block - Heather M. David
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Concrete: King of the Valley’s Roads - Michelle Dodds
Concrete Fountain Renews Tucson’s Historic Plaza Jennifer M. Levstik
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Old School Equipment: The Mixermobile and Scoopmobile
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SIDE DUMP-EXCAVATOR-LOADER-GRADER
Contributors - Heather M. David & Jennifer M. Levstik
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BELLY DUMP-SUPER 16-END DUMP-LOW BOY
Contents
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Building on the Past - 1958: A “Heavy” Order of Superlite Blocks Architect’s Perspective - Concrete Innovations in Arizona Doug Sydnor, FAIA
Digging Through the Archives - Cook, West & West: A Truck Driving Family - William Horner
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Bid Results
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Advertising Index
“The Stack” under construction, which would link Interstate 10, Interstate 17, and U.S. Highway 60 west of Downtown Phoenix, late 1980s. Article on page 56 Ten
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Contributors
Heather M. David
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eather M. David is a California-based cultural historian and freelance writer. She is the author of the books Mid-Century by the Bay, Motel California, and numerous articles on American popular culture and historic preservation. Born in San Francisco, and raised in the North Bay, Heather’s love for mid-century modern architecture, art, and signage began at a young age. Some of her earliest childhood drawings centered on roadside landscapes with motels, drive-ins, and but of course, a Union 76 gas station with its notable orange ball sign! Heather’s primary focus is Northern California Modernism, with a particular interest in roadside architecture, but her work often extends into other geographic regions. She believes that preservation begins with education. Toward that end, she has volunteered countless hours researching the human stories behind buildings, signs, and public art. All of her research is up on flickr.com, tagged, and easily searchable. Aside from her books and articles, Heather is one of the San Jose Signs Project founders and has been front and center in several local preservation initiatives. Preservation “wins” include the Century 21 dome’s landmarking and the restoration of the Stephen’s Meat Products dancing pig sign, both in San Jose. She was also instrumental in the “Bob is Back” campaign to return San Francisco’s Tiki Bob to his original smiling state.
Article on page 72
ennifer Levstik serves as an architectural historian and Assistant Director of Cultural Resources with Logan Simpson, an environmental consulting, urban planning, and landscape design firm based in Arizona. Jennifer has more than 21 years of experience in Cultural Resource Management and Historic Preservation. She has worked throughout Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, California, Utah, Oregon, and Idaho and has broad experience as an architectural historian, archaeological field director, and is the former Lead Planner for the City of Tucson Historic Preservation Office. She serves as an adjunct instructor with the University of Arizona’s College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture and is a board member of the Southern Arizona Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Jennifer has authored hundreds of technical reports, national register nominations, academic and public history articles, as well as online publications for the Society of Architectural Historians. Jennifer has managed projects on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, federal military installations, and local government agencies. When not researching all things historical, Jennifer enjoys hiking with her dog, riding her two horses, and competing in equestrian events. She thanks Langston Guettinger of Logan Simpson and Cannon Daughtrey of Pima County for their research that enabled her article. July August 2021
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Left: Acquanetta next to a new Lincoln Continental from Jack Ross Lincoln-Mercury outside of Goldwaters, 1963. Above: Cartoon depicting the story about the concrete-filled car. Right: Acquanetta Ross.
From the editor:
Uncovering the Valley’s “Concrete” Convertible Douglas Towne
I
n this “cementitious” issue of Arizona Contractor & Community magazine, we’re focused on the heavy, whitish-gray material composed of aggregate and cement that is used in many types of construction. Besides its use as a building material, concrete also figures prominently in a wild story from the 1980s. It’s a purported tale
Images courtesy of Lane Ross
Below: Jungle Woman movie poster, 1944. Bottom right: Jack & Acquanetta Ross.
that involves a neglected wife destroying one of her husband’s most prized and valuable possessions in a shocking manner. The story involves two memorable Arizona personalities: Jack Ross and his former wife, Acquanetta. Jack, who died in 2013 at the age of 85, was a businessman who twice ran for governor, finishing second in the Democratic primary in 1970 and 1974. Ross attended the University of Southern California, intending to become
a doctor, but his plans were waylaid when a friend purchased a gas station near the campus. That’s when he discovered his flair for selling cars, and he never looked back. By the mid-1950s, he opened the Jack Ross Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Mesa, which later moved to Scottsdale. Ross was a well-known name in the Valley, and a large measure of his success was due to his second wife, Acquanetta. Acquanetta, who died in 2004 at the age of 83, had a colorful back story. Nicknamed the “Venezuelan Volcano” by Universal Studios, she appeared in a series of B-movies starting in the early 1940s, which included a starring role in the 1946 film, Tarzan and the Leopard Woman. The couple each had a made-for-TV
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Have an idea for a construction or history article? contact us: Billy Horner, Publisher: Billy@arizcc.com personality and became known to Valley residents for their coy, late-night commercials for Jack’s luxury car dealership. “We don’t really sell cars. I sell ourselves; Acquanetta and Jack Ross,” she told The Arizona Republic in 1969. “That’s why I have that TV personality.” The dealership offered autographed photos of the actress and car trunks filled with groceries as promotions. Jack and Acquanetta had four sons, Lance, Tom, Jack Jr., and Rex, before they divorced in the early 1980s. Afterward, Jack remarried for a third time while Acquanetta focused on her work with various charities. But during the couple’s divorce, the yarn involving concrete was set in motion. Acquanetta, who suspected Jack of philandering, supposedly had a ready-mix truck fill the interior of his Lincoln Continental convertible with concrete. I couldn’t locate documentation of this event and suspected it was a tall tale. I reached out to the couple’s eldest son, Lance Ross, president of Ross Property Advisors in Scottsdale, to confirm this. Lance is aware of the story and has seen the related cartoon. “The truth is that she did threaten something aligned with the fable during their divorce, and it got picked up by one of the media outlets,” he responded in an email. “I suspect it was just my mother saying, ‘We obviously are not communicating, and perhaps this will get your attention.’” “She was an actress and could be theatrical, but she was not mean-spirited in any way,” he added. And so, one of Arizona’s legendary tales turns out to be a fiction. I must give Acquanetta props, however, for its construction. Her dramatic threat not only got Jack’s attention, but it’s something the Valley still talks about four decades later.
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Douglas Towne, Editor: Douglas@arizcc.com
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Image courtesy of DCS
Projects . PEOPLE . PRACTICES
CONSTRUCTION AROUND ARIZONA Projects
CONSTRUCTION AROUND ARIZONA
DCS Provides Access to Rancho Mercado
D
uring the pandemic, many people developed new skills to challenge themselves and accomplish new goals. This trend was also true of DCS Contracting, Inc. The company was awarded a $3.8 million Rancho Mercado 147th Avenue South projarizcc.com
ect in the northwest Valley that began in October 2020 and is expected to be complete in 12 months. As part of the construction, DCS added a new talent to its resume. “This is the first project DCS has completed that includes a cast-in-place span bridge with drill caissons and pre-cast concrete girders,” Wes Standifird, project engineer, says.
Above: Bragg Crane hoisting bridge span into position, 2021.
Standifird explains that the project’s scope includes a half street development of 147th Avenue from Happy Valley Road to McMicken Way. “Once complete, this roadway will allow access to the Rancho Mercado Master Community from north to south, a route that currently does not Arizona Contractor & Community