Spring 2015

Volume 4 Issue 1

• Phoenix's "Towering" Confusion • "Psycho" Building's New Role • Karl Eller's Billboard Empire • Courtesy Chevy Turns 60 $4.99 Spring 2015 Serving Contracting Firms and the Arizona Community

• Tucson's Neon Heritage • Huber Road Maintainer • Gunsight's Doug Allen • "Refreshing" Buildings

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Arizona Contractor & Community

Spring 2015

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Salome - a small town with a zany history!

Publisher William Horner Billy@arizcc.com Editor Douglas Towne Douglas@arizcc.com Contributing Writers Kevin Bonner Robert Graham Roberta Graham Carlos Lozano Katie Mayer Karl G. Obergh Luke Snell Doug Sydnor Maureen E. Towne

Bisbee - home of the Shady Dell!

Production Manager Laura Harley Laura@arizcc.com 623-698-6436 Circulation Tina Crigler Tina@arizcc.com Magazine Consultant Chuck Runbeck Chuck@arizcc.com 602-881-0907

Scottsdale - great neighbors,terrific ambiance.

Advertising Manager Chuck Runbeck Chuck@arizcc.com 602-881-0907

Publisher’s Representatives Tom Hogarty Tom@arizcc.com 480-559-2327 Joel Shuflin Joel@arizcc.com 623-570-9841

Cave Creek love the dense saguaro forest

Barry Warner Barry@arizcc.com 602-920-7325

Serving Contracting Firms and the Arizona Community… Then & Now Printed at Lithotech Arizona Contractor & Community (ACC) magazine is published quarterly (spring, summer, fall, & winter). 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.

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Spring 2015

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Volume 4 Issue 1 Spring 2015

CONTENTS 8.

From The Editor: Towering Confusion Douglas Towne

10.

Construction Around Arizona: Projects • People • Practices

32.

Memorable Messages: Karl Eller’s Billboard Empire Douglas Towne

38.

Timeless Messages: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Tucson Neon Signs - Carlos Lozano

42.

“Psycho” Building Recast as Mixed-Use Development - Katie Mayer

47.

An Arizona Construction Family: Gunsight’s Doug Allen - Maureen E. Towne

50.

The Sign of Success: Courtesy Chevrolet Turns 60 Katie Mayer

56.

Architect’s Perspective : The Refresh Movement Doug Sydnor

58.

Digging Through the Archives: Adaptable Grader, The Huber Road Maintainer - William Horner

61.

Bid Results - Bidjudge

Front Cover The “skeleton” builidng in the opening of Psycho was that of the eight-story addition to the Bank of Douglas at First Avenue and Monroe Street. The addition was built over the existing two-story bank offices without halting business operations.

The building was designed by Phoenix architect Charles Polacek and built by the Henry C. Beck Company. The Bank of Douglas later became the Arizona Bank.

Story on Page 42.

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Spring 2015

Carlos Lozano

Maureen E. Towne

Doug Sydnor

Katie Mayer

Carlos Lozano

Maureen E. Towne

Article on page 38 Hometown - Chicago, IL. Hidden talent - Tai Chi. Comfort food - My homemade pizza.

Favorite AZ town - Miami, AZ, an excellent example of "preservation by neglect."

Three people you'd invite to dinner - Jesus, Darwin, and Elvis.

Article on page 47 Hometown - Phoenix but as a kid I went to school in South Dakota.

Hidden talent - Rock climbing.

Comfort food - Aside from chocolate, falafel.

Favorite AZ town - Tucson, for its barrios and its authentic people.

Three people you'd invite to dinner - My great-greatgrandmother Petronella Van Bezel, Icelandic artist Bjork, and film director Wes Anderson.

Doug Sydnor Article on page 56 Hometown - Born in Bremerton, WA, but moved to Phoenix at a very young age.

Hidden talent - Sketching and drawing.

Comfort food - Chicken tacos.

Favorite AZ town Scottsdale for its aesthetics because of its progressive signage and landscape ordinances.

Three people you'd invite to dinner - architect Louis Kahn, sculptor Henry Moore, and actress Meryl Streep.

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Katie Mayer Articles on page 42 & 50 Hometown - Huntington Beach, CA. Hidden talent - Table tennis.

Comfort food - My grandmother's potato salad.

Favorite AZ town - Jerome. I love its history, architecture, and culture.

Three people you'd invite to dinner - Mark Twain, Marilyn Monroe, and any of my Irish or Italian ancestors.

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Spring 2015

From The Editor Towering Confusion Douglas Towne

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10-story Luhrs Building in 1924. Still, the Heard Building attracted a lot of fanfare, including being scaled by Bill Strother, the "Human Spider," who climbed the face of the structure and sat on top of the flagpole while reading a copy of the Arizona Republic in a publicity stunt in 1922.

The building was capped with a huge KTAR radio tower in 1930 that has since been removed.

Mr. Hitchcock himself might have mistaken the antennae-topped buildings for one another, since only a camera crew visited Phoenix to record the movie’s opening scene.

Psycho was filmed at Universal Studios in Los Angeles and the highway footage of Leigh driving from Phoenix was shot in California on Highway 99 between Bakersfield and Fresno.

So why did Hitchcock bother setting Psycho in Phoenix if the majority of the thriller was filmed in Southern California? “Phoenix seems to be a place where a director can stage a great murder, explosion or other crime,” Steve Weiss, Executive Director of No Festival Required Independent Cinema says. “Maybe it's because we have such nice weather, or that's it's always that great contradiction of wonderful weather and tragic outcome, but from Psycho to The Getaway [the remake] to David Lynch's TV drama, Hidden Palms, we're the go-to place for bad people doing bad things.”

Clockwise from top left: Hotel San Carlos, 1961; the Jefferson Hotel, 1964; Westward Ho Hotel, 1970; Hotel Adams, 1962; Downtown Phoenix, 1957. Across: Janet Leigh in Psycho.

Arizona Contractor & Community

Images courtesy of author

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hile Phoenix will never be the Barrister Place building, was mistaken for Hollywood, recently sold by the city to P.B. Bell the Arizona capital has Companies and Davis Enterprises experienced its share of movie magic. which will retrofit the interior to One of the most noteworthy clips of include apartments and ground-level Phoenix cinema fame came in Alfred retail space (see story on page 42).

Hitchcock’s Psycho, released in 1960. The San Carlos Hotel, which opened Ranked among the world’s greatest in 1928, continues to thrive as an films, the low-budget flick broke independent historic hostelry. After movie boundaries for violence, being vacant for over a decade, the deviant behavior, and sexuality. The 1931 Professional Building is being plot involves a secretary, played by rehabbed by CSM Lodging to reopen actress Janet Leigh, as a Phoenix Hilton who embezzles The Heard Building was hotel. The Adams money from her scaled by Bill Strother, Hotel, which was Phoenix employer after the the "Human Spider" rebuilt and flees to a distant original structure motel operated by the creepy was destroyed in a 1910 fire, was Norman Bates, portrayed by actor imploded in 1973. The Marriott Anthony Perkins. The subsequent Renaissance Phoenix Downtown gruesome murder of Leigh's hotel is now located at the site. character in the motel shower is one Some film enthusiasts think the of the most memorable scenes in building with the distinctive rooftop cinema history. antennae survives as the Westward After the opening credits, Psycho Ho, the former luxurious hotel built begins with its title dissolving into the in 1928 that now offers subsidized Phoenix skyline with Camelback housing for the elderly. But, contrary Mountain in the distance. The camera to popular belief, the Westward Ho slowly pans south, providing views of does not appear in Psycho…unless, of the San Carlos Hotel, the Professional course, you count remakes. The Building, the Adams Hotel, and a Westward Ho was featured in Gus building with a huge radio antenna Van Zant’s 2002 version of Psycho affixed to its roof. Finally the lens starring Anne Heche and Vince focuses through an open window on Vaughn. the fourth floor of the Jefferson The distinctive radio tower Hotel. There, Leigh and her boyfriend featured in Hitchcock’s classic was are concluding a clandestine the Heard Building, the first lunchtime rendezvous, discussing the “skyscraper” built in Phoenix. need to pay off his debts in order for Businessman Dwight B. Heard them to get married. financed its construction in 1920.

Despite the many changes Soaring seven stories above street downtown Phoenix has undergone level on Central Avenue south of in the decades since this scene from Monroe Street, it towered over Psycho was filmed, fans of the Phoenix for a few years, as the 1920 Hitchcock movie are heartened to cotton bust temporarily halted work find that many of the buildings on other high-rises. The Heard captured in the film are still extant. Building, however, held the title of The Jefferson Hotel which was the city’s’ tallest building for only a completed in 1915 and later became short time; it was surpassed by the

Construction Around Arizona

Images courtesy of The Brown Group & Paul Markow

Construction Around Arizona

Projects ∙ Practices ∙ People

East Mesa to Blossom with Mulberry Marketplace

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cottsdale-based retail developer Brown Group, Inc. recently announced plans to build Mulberry Marketplace on 17.7 acres of vacant land at the northwest corner of Guadalupe Road and Signal Butte Road in Mesa. The shopping center will feature a Fry’s Food & Drug, the third such Fry’s-anchored center the Brown Group, headed by partners Gary Brown and Todd Kjar, has developed in the last five years.

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Building is scheduled to begin in July, including site work, construction of a 123,419-square-feet Fry’s, and 12,000 square feet of shops. The site plan calls for 710 parking spaces and a Fry’s Fuel Center consisting of a gas canopy with nine fuel dispensers. Deals are in the works for the three pads available for ground lease. Two of the pads are designed for drive-through restaurants and the third is for a bank.

Plans are to open the center around May 2016, with no date yet on when Fry’s will open.

Named for the nearby Mulberry residential development, Mulberry Marketplace will be filled with the type of service providers typically needed in a neighborhood center. “We hope to satisfy a consumer’s needs in a number of different areas with service tenants and restaurants,” Brown says. “We try to create a nice marketing mix of various tenants who complement one another.”

The Brown Group has developed more than 6 million square feet of retail real estate, mostly in the West. Longtime friends of over 20 years, Kjar and Brown balance each other in business dealings.

Todd is the dealmaker and Gary is the financier, though there is overlap. Likeminded, they believe in hard work and a conservative business model, with an emphasis on ethics and integrity. Asked to explain Brown Group’s success―through even challenging economic times―Kjar says, “We are always upfront and nurture our relationships. It’s the reason we do so much repeat business.”

Spring 2015

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Construction Around Arizona

Arizona’s Oldest Pony Truss Bridge Goes Unleaded hanks to a little help from Technology Construction Inc., the historic Chevelon Creek Bridge just might be set to handle vehicle traffic for another 100 years. The oldest Pony Truss Bridge in service in Arizona located southeast of Winslow was recently restored by the Prescott-based company.

“We jacked the bridge up three feet above the abutments in order to rebuild the abutments,” Project Manager Ron Crites of Technology Construction says.

“While the bridge was suspended, the entire substructure steel was removed and replaced. The bridge was stripped of leadbased paint in an encapsulation tent, since Chevelon Creek below the bridge is critical habitat for many species. Lead containment was a major part of the Critical Path employed on the reconstruction.”

There were other challenges in rehabbing one of Arizona's most historically and technologically important spans. “We had to fabricate a custom concrete screed for the project. We

started placing concrete on the south side of the bridge and it worked well until we got to within 17 feet of the north abutment,” Crites recalls.

“The bridge narrowed by 1.5 inches and the screed had to be lifted from the mat in order to place and finish the final portion of the concrete finish mat.”

Chevelon Creek Bridge predates Route 66 in northern Arizona.

Images courtesy of Ron Crites

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Predating Route 66 in northern Arizona, the Chevelon Creek Bridge was one of the first highway structures to be undertaken by the newly formed State of Arizona in 1912. The deep, rocky canyon along Chevelon Creek formed a practically impassible topographic barrier to the Santa Fe Highway across northern Arizona. The newly formed state legislature appropriated $5,500 from the State Road Fund for construction of a bridge at the location, according to the state’s Historic Bridge Inventory.

The Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Works, based in Leavenworth, Kansas, was contracted to pour the concrete foundations, and design, fabricate, and erect the 100-foot truss. Seven cubic yards of concrete were poured onto solid rock for abutments. The deck was a poured-in place concrete slab over steel stringers bounded by concrete curbs and steel lattice guardrails.

“The Chevelon Creek Bridge carried mainline traffic on the Santa Fe Highway until a realignment sometime between 1917 and 1924 moved the route north of the Little Colorado River,” according to the Historic Bridge Inventory. “The bridge and the adjacent roadway were then relegated to county road status.” Today, the bridge still serves as an important transportation corridor in Navajo County.

Top: Media blasting the encapsulated bridge after initial chemical stripping of lead-based paint.

Right: Establishing the initial light-weight concrete pad on the south end of the bridge in order to set the concrete screed.

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Karl G. Obergh, PE – President of Ritoch-Powell & Associates

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new residential development on lower Grand Avenue in Phoenix will use shipping containers as the major structural element of the design. Dubbed by developers as the “Containers on Grand,” the project is cutting new ground in overcoming technical and procedural processes to create new downtown housing options with an eye toward sustainability and ecological awareness.

In 2005, an estimated 700,000 unused freight containers laid in stacks by the hundreds in U.S. port cities, according to the Intermodal Steel Building Units (ISBU) Association, a nonprofit providing resources and education on container housing. This prompted many innovators, urbanists, and builders to start thinking about how to deal with this environmental hazard. Since then, recycled containers have become popular to use as vacation homes, storage units, and construction site offices. Using containers as architectural elements seems fairly simple – they’re cheap, plentiful, and as it turns out, incredibly strong and versatile.

Sixteen decommissioned 40 by 9.5 foot containers completed a lifetime of work atop freighter ships and have been transported to Phoenix to be permanently transformed into functional apartments.

The container-based housing, located at Grand and 12th Avenues, is expected to open in spring of 2015. While developers Fourteen

have only secured permits for eight units, they would like to ultimately increase that number to 20 and expand onto an adjacent lot.

The small group of investors is pioneering only the second apartmentstyle container development in the United States, the first being constructed in the Washington D.C. area. “I think the project is a very bold and innovative way to create housing opportunities in the Grand Avenue corridor,” said Dave Krietor, CEO of Downtown Phoenix Inc. “Everyone will be watching to see how they do.”

It’s easy to see the appeal of containers. Besides the impressive visual impact of containers as apartments, the

Photos courtesy of StarkJames LLC.

Construction Around Arizona

“Out of the Box” Containers on Grand Project

containers themselves are fashioned out of Cor-Ten steel, which makes them much stronger and longer lasting than traditional wood-framed buildings.

The design team has worked diligently to resolve multiple challenges unique to building with shipping containers. One of them is the cost to construct. A steel container in Phoenix does not sound like the most comfortable place to reside during the summer. To address the thermal performance of the shell and provide for utilities such as electrical, plumbing, and HVAC, the containers have insulated wood framing within the box.

Therefore, it’s like building a home inside a steel box. The design incorporates a spray foam insulation system that not only provides a better R-value, but improves weather-proofing. This increases the cost significantly compared to a regular “stick framed” building.

Another challenge has been working with the regulatory agencies to approve this “out of the box,” sustainable multifamily project. The design team worked closely with the City of Phoenix Development Services Department to determine the information needed in order to receive permit approvals. The project required multiple zoning variances and a density waiver in order to bring the project closer to the sidewalk to create a pedestrian/bicycle friendly living space, a keystone of walkable urban communities.

Although developers are still in the early stages of construction and acquiring permits, a waiting list has already opened up online. More information is available at the project website, www.containersongrand.com.

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Images courtesy of Robert Graham

Construction Around Arizona

Terra Cotta Warriors: Materials Salvaged from Industrial Congress Building Demolition Robert Graham

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he Industrial Congress Building, a downtown Phoenix landmark built in 1914 for George H.N. Luhrs, stood on the northwest corner of Central Avenue and Madison Street for a century until its demolition in December 2014 to make room for a Marriott hotel. The building may be gone, but materials salvaged from the facades and interior before demolition will be used in upcoming renovation and new construction projects.

Preservationists battled to save the building, but found no means to avoid demolition. Negotiations then began for salvage rights to some of the building’s significant architectural features. Most notably, the east and south building facades, each over 100 feet long, were sheathed in high-quality classically detailed terra cotta and matching glazed brick. On the interior, many features remained from

the early days of the building, including everything from stone facing, doors, hardware, and drinking fountains, to elevator and electrical parts.

Shawn Connelly, proprietor of the DeSoto Central Market, soon to open in the historic Stephens DeSoto Building, contacted the Luhrs property developers, Hansji Urban, and obtained salvage rights to the façade materials. The City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office made a separate deal with the developers to allow Stardust Building Supplies, a nonprofit group specializing in marketing salvaged building materials, free rein on the interior of the building.

Connelly engaged national specialty salvage company the ReUse People of America in part because of their experience in salvaging terra cotta building elements. Ken Ortiz, regional manager for

Preservationists battled to save the building, but found no means to avoid demolition.

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the salvage company, had dismantled similar facades in other cities in the East and Midwest. After evaluating the centuryold terra cotta manufactured by the Los Angeles Brick Company, Ortiz noted it was of excellent quality and in exemplary condition compared to many others.

While the contractor hoped to salvage the entire façade, the developer imposed a strict time limit between the completion of hazardous materials abatement and the beginning of demolition. As it turned out, the terra cotta facade was very firmly attached, and the open cells of the terra cotta pieces were solidly filled with mortar and bits of brick. Many pieces of terra cotta had to be sacrificed in order to pry loose others. Time for salvage ran out with about two thirds of the terra cotta removed, palletized, and transported off site.

Working with DeSoto Building architects Motley Design Group, Connelly will use a small portion of the salvaged terra cotta as facing for a coffee bar in the DeSoto Central Market. Two original drinking fountains, salvaged from the interior by Stardust, will be put back into use near the second floor restrooms.

“The detail of the terra cotta and the crackled glaze finish is just something you can’t duplicate,” according to Connelly.

“We want the market to feel like it’s been there a long, long, time with roots in the community. Reusing pieces of actual Phoenix buildings in our interior will help us to achieve that.”

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he mid-century modern buildings at the Painted Desert Community Complex were meant to complement the surrounding landscape of rainbow-colored desert, petrified wood, fossils, and Native American petroglyphs. Visible from Interstate 40 about 25 miles east of Holbrook, the buildings serve as the administrative center for the Petrified Forest National Park and spans acres. The gas station, restaurant, community building, maintenance shop, housing, and two-room elementary school feature flat roofs, low silhouettes, and large windows offering stunning views of the surrounding Painted Desert. The complex was part of the Park Service’s Mission 66 program, a 10-year effort starting in 1956 to introduce modern architecture to park buildings before the agency turned 50.

The Painted Rock Community Complex was completed in 1965, and listed on

the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Because of its architectural significance, the complex was recently named as one of the National Trust’s newest “National Treasures.” To celebrate the occasion, over 100 people attended the sold-out "Night of Neutra" held in Phoenix in October 2014. The event highlighted local support for preservation of the groundbreaking complex, a wonderful example of Mission 66 design, and the last remaining buildings in the National Park Service designed by architects Richard Neutra and Robert Alexander.

This celebration was part of the 2014 Docomomo US Tour Day and held at the gorgeous Shepley Bulfinch offices in the Phoenix Financial Center (an amazing Modern building in its own right). Featured speakers included Chris Morris of the National Trust, Petrified Forest Superintendent Brad Traver, ASU University Architect Ed Soltero, and AZ State Representative and National Trust Advisor Demion Clinco.

"The amazing response from this event highlights the growing enthusiasm for preserving Arizona’s unique Modern architecture,” Alison King of Modern Phoenix said. “The Painted Desert Community Complex is a true National Treasure, and we look forward to its restoration as an emblem of visionary Modern design." In the coming months, the National Park Service, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Modern Phoenix, and the Arizona Preservation Foundation will work to restore the Painted Desert Community Complex to its original design, as intended by Richard Neutra and Robert Alexander. This will include producing an exhibit that will explain its history and the plans to rehabilitate the buildings.

Images courtesy of ModernPhoenix.net

Construction Around Arizona

Painted Desert Community Complex “Treasured”

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Images courtesy of Taylor Rymar

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t’s not often an engineering company has a project they can see from their headquarters, but the Taylor RyMar Corporation’s Energy Services Division managed this feat in securing its biggest contract: a five-year, $590 million modernization of Terminal 3 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Terminal 3 is visible from the firm’s Tempe office.

“Landing this job is the culmination of our efforts over the last six years to grow Taylor RyMar’s commissioning work,” Randy Despain, Taylor Rymar Director of Energy Services, says. The Terminal 3 contract is especially impressive given Despain was the division’s only employee when it started in September 2008.

Terminal 3 will remain open during the construction, which officials expect to be completed in 2020. “We are looking forward to the project because of the challenges of the phased-construction approach, the scale of the project, and keeping the terminal open for travelers in the process,” Despain says.

The three-phase project includes a consolidated security checkpoint, additional baggage-handling capacity, new food and retail concessions, and an expanded curb for drop-off and pickup.

The North Concourse will see upgraded concessions and other amenities. The South Concourse will be replaced by a new, 15-gate structure parallel to the main building, which will accommodate airlines currently using Terminal 2. As the Commissioning Authority, Taylor RyMar is responsible for reviewing construction design and documentation; monitoring

progress and ensuring construction proceeds as design stipulates; and functionally testing electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and building automation systems to verify operation according to the requirements.

Phase 1 is expected to take 18 months to two years. Terminal 3, Despain says, is “a 35-year-old building they’re remodeling into almost a whole new facility.” An expansion will also extend the west end of the structure by 60 feet. Airport officials want the upgraded terminal to be “Silver Certified” under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.

The Design/Build contractor on the project is HuntAustin, a joint venture of Hunt Construction and Austin Industries.

The work is being financed through airport revenues, such as parking, concessions, and tenant fees.

Image courtesy of ACC

Construction Around Arizona

Taylor RyMar Transforms Sky Harbor's Terminal 3

Greiner Engineering Company constructing Terminal 3, 1978.

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Food Flashback: 1920s Market to Become Downtown Dining Destination

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he historic Welnick’s Arcade Market building, at Fourth Avenue and Van Buren, has been purchased by a development group with plans to rehabilitate it for restaurant and retail use.

The market, an ornate, Spanishcommercial style building, was a downtown Phoenix grocery destination from 1927 through 1951.

Welnick’s Arcade Market marked a turning point for the grocery business in Arizona. During the 1920s and 1930s, small specialty markets began to be supplanted by the modern supermarket. Before the advent of the automobile, Phoenix had been served by a network of small neighborhood markets, most of which specialized in one area: dry goods, produce, meats, or baked goods. Selfservice chain stores established themselves and began experimenting with larger “consolidated” stores that combined all these departments in one building. This convenient arrangement drove many smaller specialty vendors out of business.

Brothers Leo and Ed Welnick tried a different approach, which was to unite a collection of individual food vendors and market them as a single entity. They created a

facility that leased space to a dry grocer, produce vendor, butcher, and baker, each maintaining their own departments within the Welnick Arcade Market.

In 1925, the Welnicks bought property on West Van Buren Street, intending to move and expand their business, the Welnick Brothers Grocery, originally located on First Avenue just north of Adams. They hired local architects Fitzhugh & Byron to design a new market building, which was completed in May 1927. The Welnick Arcade Market’s official opening on May 14, 1927 was preceded by several articles in the Arizona Republican newspaper, extolling everything from the fine, imported delicatessen goods to the caged canaries and Tiffany plaster.

Apparently unique among Phoenix markets at the time, the building was designed with large, operable doors on one side that could be raised to function as an open-air market, or lowered in cold weather to maintain comfortable conditions. The exterior was decorated with cast stone of such richness and quality that the article noted that “the ornamentation of the exterior suggests a theater rather than a market.” Welnick’s Grocery was the major user of the Arcade market building for over twenty years and remained in business at that location through 1951.

Like so many other historic buildings, as downtown Phoenix fell into decline, so did the market. Welnick’s eventually succumbed to the economic realities of

suburban flight and the preference of food shoppers to drive their automobiles to the closest full-service supermarket. The open area of the building was converted to covered parking to serve two small remaining leased spaces on the Van Buren side of the building. When these businesses failed, the building became an auto repair shop. In 1969 David Reiff purchased and rehabilitated the building for his printing business, which occupied it until his death in 2014.

In late 2014, the building and the adjacent Liefgreen Seed Company building was purchased by local investors Pat Cantelme and Jim Kuykendall. Their plans are to reverse most of the changes that have been made to the buildings over time and create an urban-focused destination eatery hosting up to five different restaurants or complementary retail uses.

The developers hope that the new facility will be an anchor for expansion of downtown redevelopment west along Van Buren and serve to enliven this corner of downtown Phoenix.

Images courtesy of Robert Graham

Construction Around Arizona

Robert & Roberta Graham

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long-time Phoenix manufacturing facility has closed shop and been demolished, though the site will continue to be used for industrial use. The former Phoenix Brick Yard at Seventh Avenue and Interstate 17 is being redeveloped for the Parc 17 Project, which will include three new buildings totaling 177,700 square feet (sf). These include a multi-tenant building (147,700 sf), and two other buildings (31,900 sf and 44,600 sf), which will be available in the summer of 2015. The project’s owner/developers are JacksonShaw Company based in Dallas, Texas and Lapour Partners located in Las Vegas. The general contractor is Nitti-Graycor of Tempe and the architect is Deutsch Architecture of Phoenix.

To ready the site for new construction, Ace Asphalt was hired to move dirt, build pads and grade the parking lot. “We worked for three weeks excavating the

property to a depth of eight feet as the facility was so old, the new owners were leery of what may have been buried there,” Manny Laborin, Ace Asphalt General Superintendent, says. “Since we found nothing unusual, however, we reprocessed and engineered the material to provide a solid foundation for the new buildings that will be built at the site. We basically verified that everything that might impact a new structure was gone,” Laborin, who has worked for Ace Asphalt 11 years, says.

“It was a pleasure working with the Phoenix Brick Yard owners on the sale of the property,” Kari Laurent, Lapour

Images courtesy of Lapour Partners

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Right: Ace Asphalt General Superintendent Manny Laborin and his son, Scraper Operator Santiago Laborin, during excavation phase.

Bottom: Breinholt Contracting during the demolition phase.

Image courtesy of Manny Laborin

Construction Around Arizona

Landmark Phoenix Brick Yard Redeveloped

Director of Development says. The redevelopment plans will include a marker honoring the site’s previous use. “We were able to salvage some of the original brick from the Brick Yard office built in the 1940s,” Laurent says. “We plan to erect a monument sign using the brick to pay homage to the long history of the property.”

Still, the former brick works that contributed so many building materials to the Valley’s construction industry will be missed. “I’ve been going by the Phoenix Brick Yard my whole life and it was sad that they were not able to salvage the buildings,” Laborin, a Phoenix native laments. “While it was tough to see the demo, it was really nice that workers could take home a souvenir brick from the property as a nice memento.”

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t’s a bold move to double the office space in Arizona’s fifth largest city with a single development. But the $750 million, 250-acre mixed-use Rivulon development located at the corner of Gilbert Road and Arizona State Route 202 plans to achieve this goal for the City of Gilbert and create a new Valley employment hub in the process.

The business district will include approximately 3 million square feet (sf) of Class A office, 500,000 sf of retail, and hotels. The project hopes to add 6,500 high-wage jobs by attracting companies in targeted sectors, including technology, biomedical, health care, and aerospace.

Rivulon is designed with a holistic view of the site, ensuring a cohesive flow, compatibility of uses and sensitivity to the sustainability of resources by its developer, Nationwide Realty Investors. Nationwide has a proven track record in developing large, complex mixed-use projects such as Gainey Ranch Corporate Center in Scottsdale.

There will be opportunities for highly visible retail with landscaped views along a planned water feature to serve residents, tenants, and neighboring areas. Traditional retail opportunities and boutique spaces will be available along with an assortment of restaurants including quick serve, casual, and formal dining options.

The project has had several challenging aspects. “Owner timelines were demanding and the project was located in both Gilbert and Chandler city jurisdictions,” Brandon Byrne, General

Manager of Construction for DCS Contracting, says. “We also reduced the impact to the public by scheduling offsite improvements after the holidays for the nearby car dealerships and retail outlets.”

One of the most important aspects of the development is the attention to detail for the landscaping. “The landscape architect has sourced palm trees for the project in California,” Byrne says. The project includes a large roundabout that took extensive design and review after construction had started with the Project Engineer EPS Group and the City of Gilbert.

To build the project at the rate required by the project owner, DCS Contracting and the EPS Group have had

to react quickly to solve unforeseen problems while construction is ongoing.

“This work includes a sewer system redesign from Gilbert Road along Rivulon Boulevard and changes to the SRP, Cox, and SW Gas utility design to accommodate the ongoing roadway widening activities,” Byrne says. “This has all had to take place while maintaining site access to DCS and the two general contractors for construction and fire access.”

Top: DCS finish crew (l-r): Operator Roberto Palacios, Blade Operator Dan Henderson, Supervisor Elevterio Maldonado, and Scraper Operator David Lynch.

Below: Finish Blade Operator Dan Henderson makes his final ABC passes before paving.

Images courtesy of ACC

Construction Around Arizona

Rivulon Development to Double Gilbert’s Office

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Construction Around Arizona

Simple Equipment for Quality Concrete Luke M. Snell, p.e.

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here are four inexpensive tools that contractors can use to help create a quality concrete project. Two are used in the placement of concrete and the others will aid in determining properties of the hardened concrete.

They can be researched and purchased on the internet, where customer comments assist in making a well-informed decision on what piece of equipment is best for the job.

Hand Held Weather Stations - Preventing Plastic Shrinkage Cracks A common problem for contractors is plastic shrinkage cracks. Although the mechanism of what causes plastic

shrinkage cracks is well understood, this information is often not applied to construction. The American Concrete Institute (ACI) in ACI 116 defines this problem as “cracking that occurs in the surface of fresh concrete soon after it is placed and while it is still plastic.�

To determine if plastic shrinkage cracks are likely, the evaporation rate two feet above the concrete must be calculated. The evaporation rate is controlled by the air temperature, humidity, wind velocity, and concrete temperature. The weather conditions that result in plastic shrinkage cracks are high temperatures, low humidity, and wind – typical Arizona weather.

To obtain this data, a $150 hand held weather station is the most cost-effective solution. The collected information is then entered into a Nomograph computer program to determine if conditions will likely cause plastic shrinkage cracks.

Contact the author for a free link to the Nomograph program.

Infrared (IR) Thermometers Objects that are warmer than absolute zero temperature give off IR radiation, electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between those of visible red light and radio waves. An IR thermometer simply collects and focuses IR radiation on a detector that converts it into an electrical current; the current increases with the temperature of an object giving off the radiation.

There are many situations that require the concrete temperature to be measured on construction sites. These are given in specifications or standards by the ACI and include: 1. Calculating concrete temperatures.

2. Making sure you are not placing concrete on frozen soil.

3. Making sure you are not placing concrete on any surface that is less than 35 degrees Fahrenheit (F).

4. Making sure curing water is not more than 20 degrees F cooler than the concrete temperature.

5. Monitor and record curing temperatures when the air temperature is less than 40 F.

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6. Keeping temperatures of embedments and forms less than 120 F. The IR thermometer can be used to quickly determine temperatures and range in price from $30 - $100.

Most contractors need to locate reinforcing bars in a concrete structure so they can avoid them when drilling holes into concrete. There are many metal locators on the market, but some are expensive, require extensive training, and are designed to be operated by engineers conducting a detailed structural evaluation of an existing building.

Contractors have only the occasional need to find reinforcing bars in concrete and require an inexpensive metal locator that is relatively easy to use. This equipment measures the change in the electrical field caused by metals. The user scans the concrete surface and determines the location of the metal when the scale on the metal locator indicates the maximum reading. By scanning in several locations, the user can determine if they are over a reinforcement, or copper pipe.

To verify how user-friendly this equipment was, I worked with students in Mongolia and Ethiopia using these instruments for locating reinforcement bars. These students were able to quickly and successfully use the equipment. Two different types of metal locators were evaluated. The least expensive cost $30 and will locate reinforcement bars to a depth of three inches; a more expensive $110 option located reinforcement bars to six inches in depth.

Images courtesy of Luke Snell

Metal Locators

requirements, cylinders or cores must be collected. The rebound hammer does allow the user to determine uniformity of the concrete and where low strength might have occurred. When used correctly, the rebound hammer can eliminate coring in unnecessary areas.

Upcoming Seminars

Luke M. Snell, P.E. is a Senior Materials Engineer at Western Technologies in Phoenix, Arizona and Emeritus Professor of Construction, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

The cost of each seminar is $50.00 ($20.00 for students) which includes a CD with additional information on each piece of equipment. For more information, see http://www.azaci.org/events

For more detailed information on all this equipment, three seminars will be offered: April 1, 1pm – 4pm - Flagstaff April 7, 1pm – 4pm - Phoenix April 8, 1pm – 4pm - Tucson

Rebound Hammer The rebound hammer is a popular method to investigate concrete because of its relatively low cost and simple operating procedures. However, it is also one of the easiest pieces of equipment to misuse. The rebound hammer only measures the surface hardness of concrete. Research has shown that a soft concrete surface indicates weak concrete whereas a hard surface indicates strong concrete.

Unfortunately, the rebound hammer does not give the exact strength of the concrete. To determine the strength of the concrete or to see if it meets code www.arizcc.com

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Construction Around Arizona

The Legal Pitfalls of a “Gentleman’s Shake” on the Job Site: What You Need to Know About Oral vs. Written Agreements Kevin Bonner, Fennemore Craig Law Firm

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lthough verbal agreements are generally as enforceable as written agreements (with some limited exceptions), parties are better served if their agreements are in writing.

Here is a common scenario: A subcontractor receives a call from the project manager of a general contractor asking him to start a new project right away. The subcontractor bid the job, but the work was awarded to another subcontractor, who was the lower bidder, but is now unavailable. The project manager agreed to the subcontractor’s pricing and indicated that the work will last three weeks. With such a tight deadline, there is no time to get a written contract signed, and the subcontractor starts work immediately. Two weeks into the project, the project is delayed because of a conflict created by another contractor, resulting in the subcontractor completing the project in eight weeks, instead of the original timeframe of three weeks. Once the project is finished, the subcontractor submits a pay application, which includes an additional amount for the delay-related costs. The contractor objects to the additional amount and refuses to pay for the delay-related costs, saying that the project manager only had authority to hire the subcontractor for the same price as the prior subcontractor.

You have probably been in a similar situation, leaving you at risk for a legal dispute. This scenario highlights the benefits of a written agreement. If a dispute arises, such as the example above, a party will have to prove what the terms of the agreement are. If the agreement is not in writing, proving its terms will be more difficult, and will likely make any legal dispute more expensive and the results less certain.

Below are the benefits and key issues that a good written construction contract can address to help you avoid a legal pitfall: Thirty

Payment Terms - In the above scenario, there was a dispute about the subcontract price. That issue can be avoided by the simplest of written agreements, which can take the form of a written purchase order. Even if a purchase order is not signed by the contractor, the existence of writing and documenting the price will be better than a verbal agreement that is later disavowed.

Purchase orders may also provide that they are binding upon the beginning of work, even if not signed. The timing of payment and any conditions precedent to payment are also important terms. For example, will a subcontractor be required to submit lien waivers? Will there be a pay-when-paid or pay-if-paid clause, making an owner’s payment to a contractor a condition to payment?

Integration Clause - Written agreements should state that they contain all of the terms of the agreement, that there are no oral agreements, and that the agreement may only be amended in writing signed by both parties.

Indemnity - Although parties may have indemnity rights even without written agreements, written indemnity agreements can offer far better indemnity protection. Written indemnity agreements must be carefully drafted to comply with applicable law. If they are not, they will be unenforceable. For example, an indemnity agreement that requires indemnity for damage caused by the other party’s sole negligence is unenforceable in many states.

Insurance - It is important to require adequate insurance for the risk involved and to address issues such as whether a party will be required to name others as additional insured on its policies.

Liability - Written contracts can address liability in many different ways.

For example, contracts can waive consequential damages such as lost profits, and can even limit a party’s liability to a specific dollar amount or to the limits of a party’s insurance. They can also provide

for liquidated damages in the event of a delay in completion.

Dispute Resolution - Consideration should be given to whether an alternative dispute resolution provision is appropriate, i.e., calling for mediation and/or arbitration. This is often an overlooked provision when negotiating a contract.

Warranty Obligations - A written agreement can clearly identify warranty obligations and the parties’ responsibilities when a warranty claim is made.

Other Considerations: The statute of limitations to file a lawsuit for written contracts is longer in many states than for oral contracts, meaning that a written agreement is enforceable by law for a longer period of time than an oral agreement. Some states also require certain construction contracts between owners and contractors to be writing and to contain certain terms, including the contract value and estimated date of completion.

When drafting any written agreement, consideration of state law must be considered. Contract law varies among the States for many issues, including the above. There are also many industry form agreements such as AIA and ConsensusDocs contracts, which are often good starting points, but consideration should be given to how appropriate they are for a particular project and how they can be modified to better protect the parties’ interests. As a result, owners, contactors, and design professionals should consult with their lawyers to determine what terms are right for their agreements.

Kevin Bonner practices in the areas of construction law and commercial litigation.

He can be contacted at (602) 916-5379 or www.fennemorecraig.com.

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Images courtesy of Eller Creative Group

Karl Eller in his Phoenix office, 1970s.

Memorable Messages: Karl Eller’s Billboard Empire Douglas Towne

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t’s difficult to pigeonhole Arizona legend Karl Eller, given his many achievements.

He led major corporations such as Combined Communications, Columbia Pictures, and Circle K, yet he was famous for sketching out complicated, multimillion dollar deals on the back of a napkin. Eller was also instrumental in bringing big-time sports to the Valley including the Phoenix Roadrunners, the Phoenix Suns, the Fiesta Bowl, and the Arizona Cardinals. His generous donations to his alma mater inspired the University of Arizona to name the Eller College of Management after him, where he still mentors students. Then there’s his marketing genius as the creator of the Big Gulp and the Halloween, snacksized candy bar.

The springboard to these many accomplishments, however, was the billboard industry. Eller began his career with the famed outdoor advertising firm, Foster & Kleiser Company, in 1952 and

worked there for six years. “TV and newspaper messages are ephemeral. A strong billboard, though, has staying power. It’s like a bridge or a statue or a huge old tree – a landmark you can remember,” Eller wrote in his 1995 book, Integrity Is All You’ve Got. While an account supervisor with the Needham, Louis, & Brorby Advertising Agency, Eller made the first of many entrepreneurial leaps. Eller had been earning $25,000 a year managing major accounts like Morton Salt, Campbell's Soup, and Mars Candy from his office in Chicago’s Wrigley Building when his former company, Foster & Kleiser offered him part of their Southwestern operations for a whopping $5 million. Seizing the opportunity, he recruited investors, impressed bankers, and Eller Outdoor Advertising opened in Phoenix on March 17, 1962. Where did Eller acquire the gumption to make such a dynamic move at age 32 while supporting a wife and two

young children? It seems both billboards and risk-taking were imprinted on him at an early age.

Born in Chicago in 1928, Eller moved with his mother and sister to Tucson in 1937. He remembers being intrigued with Burma Shave signboards along the roadside. These signs were sequenced such that their poetic advertising message could be rhythmically read from passing vehicles: The happy golfer Finds with glee The shave That suits him To a tee.

Burma-Shave Eller’s “go for it” philosophy was displayed when he tried out for the Tucson High School football team in 1945. Put into a scrimmage without a helmet or pads, the coach warned Eller not to hurt himself by

A painter applies billboard panels to create an outdoor advertisement for Mobil Gas.

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YOUR SMALL BUSINESS HEADQUARTERS FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES SINCE 1955

866-980-4543 www.courtesyfleet.com 4999 N. 12th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85014 Spring 2015

even started a horticulture department to maintain the surrounding landscapes.

Foster & Kleiser instituted many billboard innovations in California in the 1930s. Live models used on billboards to advertise

movies were so popular that they created traffic jams in Hollywood. Company painters changed the Dow Jones average on a billboard in San Francisco’s financial district every hour. During World War II, Foster & Kleiser painted huge canvases depicting airplanes which were laid out on the ground in undeveloped areas to fool

Images courtesy of Eller Creative Group

tackling anyone. Determined to make the team, Eller ignored the command and brought down countless ball carriers. His inspired performance was rewarded with Eller being named the starting fullback. The squad had a 33-game winning streak and was quarterbacked by Frank Borman, a future astronaut and head of Eastern Airlines.

After high school, Eller enlisted in the Army and, later courtesy of the GI Bill, attended the University of Arizona, where he played on the football team.

While in occupied Japan, Eller had served as a driver for General Robert Eichelberger, who was sometimes accompanied by General Douglas MacArthur. “Eichelberger was a great guy,” recalls Eller. “The four-star general showed up later at one of my Arizona football games and talked to the team, telling stories about my life in the military.”

After graduating from the University of Arizona in 1952, Eller became a billboard lease man for Foster & Kleiser, a company that began operations in the Pacific Northwest in 1901. The company’s billboard business grew with the proliferation of automobiles. Early on, their outdoor advertisements were often situated in park-like settings and the firm

potential Japanese air attacks. Another wartime invention was the air raid switch, which enabled pedestrians to darken a billboard’s lights to help hide the city from aerial bombing.

Foster & Kleiser had entered the Arizona market after acquiring billboards from the McClintock Company in 1924.

After starting with the firm in Tucson, Eller subsequently moved to company offices in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Chicago. When Foster & Kleiser offered to sell Eller their billboards in Phoenix, Tucson, Fresno, and Bakersfield, he was approved for a loan from the Harris Bank in Chicago. The bank, however, suggested Eller work with a Phoenix firm and recommended their former associate, Walter Bimson, at the Valley Bank. Bimson approved the loan, knowing his Harris colleagues had vetted Eller.

Eller Outdoor Advertising’s major clients included A.J. Bayless Grocery, Arizona Bank, and First National Bank but not their own Valley Bank. Eller took it as a challenge to secure the account and left personal messages on a billboard for Bimson, which he could see from his office. The campaign worked and Bimson instructed his staff to add outdoor advertising to the bank’s marketing portfolio.

One of Eller’s most memorable early clients was Blakely gas stations, which had the famous souvenir glasses decorated with desert plants. “Not many salesmen could get in to see the owner, Monroe

Top to bottom: Foster and Kleiser billboards: Lucky Lager Beer, Coppertone, and Chevrolet Camaro. www.arizcc.com

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Richards says. “Overnight, a celebrity might taint your company’s image with something they’ve done.”

When Eller started in the industry, billboards were created in large studios with the design projected onto a series of paper panels. The patterns were transferred onto 24, 18-inch panels with a chalk-filled pounce bag, which marked the outlines of the objects which were then hand painted with oils. The panels were installed like wallpaper on outdoor billboards.

Painters would dangle from bosun’s chairs to touch up the edges between panels or correct damaged portions. “I could tell which artist painted a billboard based on the quality,” Richards recalls. “There was a pecking order with the artists and a bit of a competition between them too.”

Although a stunning art form, the painter’s work could sometimes be uneven and bad weather could turn an unmaintained billboard into an eyesore.

With food related billboards, it was important to get the colors right so the product looked tasty. “Sometimes the hand painters were off on their colors and that glass of beer didn’t look so appetizing,” Richards chuckles.

This was critical with people too. “The late Valley radio personality Bill Haywood had a bit of an ego and was always a stickler about his image,” Eller recalls. “He would request certain artists on staff to paint him as he felt others tended to render him an off color. Hand painting is now a long lost art which is a shame.”

Changing technology phased out hand painters in the mid-1980s. Companies used computerized graphics printed on durable vinyl sheets that preserved sharp images.

"The tough part to sell the customers on is simplicity," Eller says.

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Images courtesy of Eller Creative Group

Image courtesy of ACC

Blakely, who was a real interesting character. He took a liking to me and became one of my largest accounts with billboards all over the state. But it was sure tough to get him to pay his bills,” laughs Eller.

Successful billboard advertising is simple according to Eller. “You need to recognize locations with the best roadside vistas. Then, if you have good content on the billboard you get good results. If you have lousy content, you get lousy results,” Eller says. “That’s what we excelled at and why we grew and were successful. We also charged far less than broadcast media.

Billboards are the least expensive way to reach mass audiences, especially with cable fragmenting TV viewership.”

The key to marketing billboards to potential customers was creating a miniature mockup of the finished product.

At Eller Outdoor Advertising, the art staff was bigger than the sales staff, creating countless little speculative art models of billboards. “Incorporating animated figures into ads was safer than using public figures,” Eller Creative Director Rob

A more recent advance is LED billboards, which are like giant TV screens with rotating commercial ads. “The LEDs have their advantages as you can change the billboard quickly,” Richards says. “But visually, your message is up there only briefly. There’s also often too much clutter in the ads. You need a visual that can quickly engage the viewer. The key is, did my product sell, not whether you won an advertising award for it.”

Eller concurs with this assessment of new technology. “The tough part to sell the customers on is simplicity. With digital, the business is changing but I’m not sure it’s changing for the best.”

At 86 years old, and after a serious medical complication, Eller still views the future as having many new entrepreneurial opportunities ripe for risk takers. “Life is short, failure is usual, and you pass here only once,” Eller wrote in his book. “You can make the best of it or the worst of it—just sliding though is quitting. Once you grasp the alternatives, living to the hilt, even briefly, is the best of all deals.”

Top left to right: Karl Eller with Connie Hawkins and Dick Van Arsdale of the Phoenix Suns, 1970. Blakely billboard, Holsum Bread billboard.

Left: Rob Richards, Karl Eller, and Chuck Runbeck in Eller's office, 2014.

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Timeless Messages: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Tucson Neon Signs Carlos Lozano

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ncient giants, dormant for decades, are being reawakened in Tucson. In the 1950s, the streets of the Old Pueblo were lined with some of the most impressive neon signs in the country. By the mid 1960s, public opinion about signs began to turn against neon, and by the 1980s, Tucson had destroyed a huge percentage of its historic signs. Decades have passed, and public opinion has come full circle. Tucson, once again, values its classic neon displays.

The Neon Boom In the 1950s, the city’s commercial corridors glowed at night with a rainbow of neon. Motel and merchant signs celebrated everything Tucson: cowboys, cowgirls, Indians, bathing beauties, cacti, Old Mexico, Spanish colonialism, etc.

Ethnic restaurant owners proudly displayed stereotypical images of their homelands. Remember Arizona’s “5 C’s”?

Cattle, climate, cotton, copper and citrus were showcased more dramatically in neon than in any Chamber of Commerce

brochure or high school civics class. Each sign was a unique creation, and many became beloved, unforgettable landmarks.

Tucson’s neon boom was closely linked to America’s post-war automotive expansion. Tucson originally grew up around a desert oasis at the intersection of the Santa Cruz River, the Rillito River, and two ancient Native American trade routes. The north-south trade route was followed by the Spaniards linking Catholic Missions from Mexico to California and eventually became U.S. Highway 89 through Tucson. The east-west route was used in succession by the Butterfield Stage, railroads, and U.S. Highway 80. Originally, U.S. 80 wove its way slowly through Tucson and was dubbed “The Broadway of America,” being the first transcontinental highway, older and only slightly less popular than Route 66. It has since been replaced by Interstate 10.

As auto tourism increased after World War II, so did neon signs, in number and in size. A big, bright, eye-catching sign was often the only way to attract a passing tourist. Neon also beckoned to locals.

Restored signs along West Drachman Street.

Tucson’s youth had embraced the modern car-culture, and “cruising” became a favorite evening activity, especially on the aptly named Speedway Boulevard. At the height of the post-war auto-boom, when Tucson was a town of less than 200,000, cruisers could choose from ten drive-in movie screens, and many dozens of drivein hamburger joints. By the end of the sign boom, a city survey counted a total of 2,760 signs on Speedway Boulevard alone.

The Neon Bust By the mid-1960s the popularity of roadside neon did a U-turn. In 1965, Congress passed First Lady Ladybird Johnson’s Highway Beautification Act (HBA), which regulated billboards and Spring 2015

The restored Pueblo Hotel sign.

Images courtesy of Jude and Gerardine Vargas

junkyards along the new Interstate Highway System. The HBA resonated with the American people far beyond its actual limited scope, seeming to symbolize that the post-war party was over, and it was time to clean up. The legislation was actually an early form of environmentalism which suggested that signage was visual pollution. The perceived demands to “clean up” caused sign makers to recommend the internally illuminated plastic “light boxes” that are still common.

The new sign aesthetic demanded “just the facts,” without added illustration. Plastic signs had been available since immediately after World War II, but were rarely used.

It’s hard for fans of neon to comprehend that the cheap, sterile plastic signs were

thought to be less of an “eyesore” than the imaginative, expressive neon designs that they replaced.

Interstate 10 was also completed through Tucson during the mid-1960s.

Although U.S. Highway 80 still meandered

profound. Motels lost business and many closed, leading to their buildings and signs falling into disrepair. Tucson’s oncefamous Miracle Mile, a stretch of U.S. Highway 80, became infamous for drug dealing and prostitution and its flickering neon signs were considered garish and sleazy.

Commercial streets and their signs also suffered. For years, Speedway Boulevard had been the heart of the car “cruising culture.” As a result, businesses thrived, and the roadside was crowded with signage.

Neon’s new negative image was dragged to a new low, however, in a 1966 LIFE magazine article on Tucson’s only serial killer, Charles “Smitty” Schmid, known as “The Pied Piper of Tucson.” A dark, night

By the mid-1960s the popularity of roadside neon did a U-turn.

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slowly though Tucson, passing countless independently owned motels and restaurants, the new Interstate offered twice the speed, no stop lights, and easy access to frontage roads designed for the new national franchise motel and restaurant chains. The effect on the old commercial corridor was severe and

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time photo of Speedway was captioned, “ON THE NEON TRAIL: This is Tucson’s Speedway Boulevard, a garish stretch of hamburger palaces and juke joints - the favorite world of Smitty and his crowd.”

In 1970, LIFE magazine attacked Speedway again in a coast-to-coast indictment of neon signs and roadside statues of burger boys, diving girls, and Indian maidens. The article featured a two-page, centerfold photo of Speedway captioned with a controversial quote by then Mayor Jim Corbett. The three-part caption was written in hyperbolic prose:

“Look down, look down that loathsome road;” “Blight blossoms on the American highway;” and, “The view down ‘The Speedway’ in Tucson supports the mayor’s opinion that it is America’s ugliest street.

This garish thicket marks what was once a dirt trail to the mountains.”

The Mayor and City Council requested and passed a much stricter sign code in 1966. According to the new code, 1,032 signs were declared illegal on Speedway alone. Most were too big, too close to the road, or improperly permitted. Displaying an illegal sign was a misdemeanor and

carried the threat of a $300 per day fine and six months in prison. But this was not enough. The war on signs continued, and by the mid 1970s, there was renewed demand for an even stricter sign code. The next, more regressive sign code resulted in even greater loss of classic neon. The new code, similar to the one we have today, contained an odd provision designed to rid Tucson of old signs. If a business changed its permitted use, and took their sign down to refurbish and change text, they would not be allowed to put it back up. This “Catch 22” was another reason why so many businesses chose to replace their classic neon with a plastic light box.

Tucson’s war on neon seemed to be won.

Preservation By the 1970s, movements were started around the country, including by the Society for Commercial Archaeology, advocating for preservation of America’s rich roadside heritage. These sentiments were tragically slow in reaching Tucson.

Congress had previously enacted the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966, largely as a response to overzealous urban renewal projects which demolished entire neighborhoods of historic homes and businesses. Although the National Register of Historic Places was mainly focused on buildings and sites more than 50 years old, guidelines were eventually developed to include “fragile or short-lived resources,” such as historic signs. Similarly, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), was largely a response to the mass razing of historic roadside communities to create the Interstates. NEPA created a process to mitigate the impact of Federal projects on the natural environment, archaeological sites, and a wide variety of cultural resources. The infamous Highway Beautification Act of 1965 was even amended in 1974 to exempt “historic and artistic signs.”

But the prevailing sentiment in Tucson during this era was that neon signs were an eyesore and businesses actively looked to modernize their roadside advertising.

In addition to sign code pressures, many Across page, clockwise from top left: Crane removing Magic Carpet Golf sign; Diving Girl being refurbished; Restored Hoop Dancer in private collection, Hoop Dancer at original location in downtown Tucson.

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Image courtesy of Cook and Company Signmakers

Image courtesy of Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation

functional but old-fashioned neon signs were now unwanted by merchants who were eager to follow the new signage trends. The initial form of preservation was salvage by private collectors. A local collector who was active in the 1970s recalled that many old signs were “free for the asking,” provided you had the equipment to remove them.

Unfortunately, few signs were saved since most would-be collectors had no idea how massive and heavy they were. One successful rescue from the 1980s was the salvage of the 1950s “Hoop Dancer” sign, an animated, rotating, largerthan-life neon Indian which was mounted over the entrance of Indian Village Trading Post on Congress Street. More recently, the gigantic Ye Olde Lantern restaurant sign was intercepted on its way to a landfill, the truck diverted to an aficionado’s back yard.

Rescued signs, however, lose their original context and are removed from public view.

By the 1990s, the Mayor and City Council were officially supporting revitalization of Tucson’s downtown and Miracle Mile. They granted variances to allow two illegal theater marquees and an illegal historic motel sign to be restored.

to the sign code to encourage preservation of Historic Landmark Signs (HLS). Since the HLS amendment passed, 10 signs have been painstakingly restored, and at least a dozen more are in the planning stages.

Most of the restorations have been privately funded by local business owners and volunteers who understand the beauty and historic value of classic neon. It’s good to know that a few colorful giants have survived from another era and will be here for future generations to appreciate.

In addition to sign code pressures, many functional but old-fashioned neon signs were now unwanted by merchants who were eager to follow the new signage trends.

Images courtesy of author

There was great public support for these projects and additional variances were likely.

In 2011, sensing a mood of nostalgia and appreciation of classic neon, the Mayor and Council passed an amendment

Carlos Lozano is the founder of VanishingTucson.com, serves on the Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission, and chaired the HLS sub-committee. He studied neon and illuminated sculpture at The Crucible in Oakland.

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“Psycho” Building Recast as Mixed-Use Development Katie Mayer

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Merging how the Barrister Place building looks today (left) and in 1947 (right).

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Enterprises collaboration from among seven bidders seeking to redevelop Barrister Place and two adjacent parcels on the southwest corner of Central Avenue and Jefferson Street, according to a P.B. Bell company newsletter.

“We’re really happy to see the building occupied again” said Michelle Dodds, Phoenix historic preservation

Image courtesy of ACC

he black and white camera pans slowly across the seemingly monochromatic and treeless 1959 Phoenix skyline. The old Hotel San Carlos stands in the middle of the screen, and just west, is the skeleton of the former Arizona Bank Building. On the foggy horizon, Camelback Mountain rises from the dust and, as the camera pans further to the right, the Heard Building and its towering antenna come into view.

The camera then pans all the way toward the south of the city, where a mysterious Chicago-style brick and concrete building becomes the focal point.

And finally the structure’s sizeable partially-lifted window is given its famous close up – a cameo in one of history’s most recognizable films.

The film is Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 thriller Psycho and the building featured in its opening scene is Barrister Place, formerly called the Jefferson Hotel.

“Everyone thinks that the Westward Ho was the Psycho hotel, but it was really the Jefferson Hotel,” said Marshall Shore, the Hip Historian. “Alfred Hitchcock really wanted to zoom in on a large window and that building had the largest windows, so that’s how it was chosen.”

Since making its film debut in 1960, the six-story Barrister Place building has been the temporary home of offices and a museum. In the 1980s, it was sadly disemboweled – its historic guts replaced with a plain and updated interior. But after decades of fading into the background like a washed up movie star, the city-owned Barrister Place building is now poised to once again find its place in the spotlight, say historic preservationists and city officials.

In late December, the Phoenix City Council voted to approve a plan to sell the building to P.B. Bell Companies and Davis Enterprises for $2.28 million. City officials chose the P.B. Bell Companies/Davis

officer. Dodds said the Phoenix Historic Preservation office has been involved in the city’s request for proposal (RFP) process to help ensure the property, which is designated historic by the city but not by the National Register of Historic Places, is properly preserved.

The collaborators’ plans for the building call for an adaptive reuse renovation effort to create a mixed-use community on the site, according to P.B. Bell. The developers said they will place special emphasis on preserving the structure’s historic façade while modernizing the interior. Management at P.B. Bell could not be reached for comment, but the company released a statement in its corporate newsletter. “The

Spring 2015

the cityowned Barrister Place building is now poised to once again find its place in the spotlight.

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Barrister building is an iconic piece of downtown Phoenix history and we are honored to be involved in helping write its next chapter,� said Vice President of Development for P.B. Bell Mike Trueman.

According to plans, the $27 million Barrister Place project will create stores on the lowest level with apartments above.

Developers also plan to build two additional six-story buildings with more apartments as well as parking spaces. “The design is very sensitive to the building and the adjacent development is not going to be higher than the hotel,� Dodds said.

Most exciting, Dodds added, is that the developers are planning to restore the original windows, which were replaced during the renovation that gutted the

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Images courtesy of ACC

interior in the 1980s. Also important is the agreement between city leaders and developers, which calls for the building’s exterior to remain intact for at least 25 years. Construction is planned to start this year and could be finished by 2016.

“I just love the fact that they will have the first floor retail and people can be invited in and experience it from the inside,” Shore said. “Being able to go in and

out of the building just gives a certain feel and I’m really looking forward to it helping to revitalize downtown.”

According to city records, Lebanonborn pioneer Salim Ackel built the Jefferson Hotel in 1915. At the time, it was the state’s tallest building and a luxurious hotel. A May 1941 newspaper advertisement in the Arizona Independent Republic boasts “dry air-cooled rooms for the summer” for $5.00 per week. Today, the structure boasts the oldest reinforced concrete structural system remaining in Phoenix.

Ackel was a successful businessman and property owner in the Valley who, during his life, opened a small grocery store on South Second Street and owned an emporium on Washington Street, as well as a cattle ranch near Chandler, and

the Grand Café in Phoenix, among other businesses. Ackel first leased the Jefferson Hotel, but became the manager in 1925 and operated the business until 1934.

Although Ackel built a large home in the Alvarado Historic District located near the Heard Museum, he lived in the hotel during his final years and died in 1951.

The City of Phoenix acquired the Barrister Building in 1990 and it housed public works offices and later the Phoenix Police Museum, which is now located in Historic City Hall. For more than three years, Barrister Place has remained closed.

City leaders and residents hope the renovation and additional development will not only restore the beauty of the historic building, but also enhance the vibrancy of the downtown area. And while the community, for the most part, is optimistic about the future, the Phoenix Historic Preservation office is going to remain involved. “We will continue to work closely with developers as they progress through the process,” Dodds said.

Shore said some people are “sitting on the fence about this,” but that he believes the plans will preserve part of the past in a city that has lost so much history to development already. “It’s important to keep those flashes of where we’ve been,” Shore said. “We can still be a modern city, but we don’t need to completely denude ourselves of where we’ve been.”

Top to bottom: Phoenix skyline, 1960; postcard of the Jefferson Hotel; Jefferson Hotel lobby, 1947.

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An Arizona Construction Family:

Gunsight’s Doug Allen Maureen E. Towne

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nyone who has fled the Valley’s rat race for a convenient seaside respite south of the border at Rocky Point, Mexico owes a debt of gratitude to the family of Doug Allen, owner of Gunsight Construction. A third generation businessman in the Arizona construction scene, Doug’s grandfather, Millard Allen started Allen Contracting Company after working as a shovel and blade operator for Arizona Sand & Gravel in the 1940s. Allen’s firm did grading in the Valley—and internationally!

“He and a couple other local contractors used to pull their boats to Rocky Point,” Doug recalls. “They took their construction equipment down to Mexico and graded the road from Sonoyta to Rocky Point so they wouldn’t shake the boats apart on the way.”

Doug’s father, Jay Allen, was also in the construction field and worked intermittently for C&F Equipment Company, becoming friends with owner, Duke Francis Sr., in the 1950s. In addition, both Doug’s mother and father worked for

operations. It was the Wild West of construction.

In 1995, C&F Equipment closed after nearly 50 years. “It was a profitable company with good people,” Doug says.

He learned a lot from his years at C&F Equipment, including how not to do things.

C&F Equipment shut down when Doug was 35, so he and two other long time employees subsequently formed their own business specializing in earthwork and asphalt paving.

They brainstormed 11 different names for the firm but all had been used except for Gunsight, named after Gunsight Butte on Lake Powell where they often vacationed.

Gunsight Construction had their 20th anniversary this February, a hefty accomplishment considering barely 30 percent of current businesses have survived that long, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Numbers are even

It was the Wild West of construction.

Images courtesy of Doug Allen

Top right: Allen Contracting Company’s first contract signed by Millard Allen, 1952.

Bottom, left to right: Jay Allen pulling a slope with a JD450-B dozer. Jim Oliver (left) and Jay Allen (right) while working for Henry F. Shelton Contracting in Sun City, early 1970s.

Tiffany Construction in the 1970s. Doug, himself, had an afterschool job chasing parts for Herb Tiffany.

On the side, the family started the Jay Allen Grading Company specializing in golf course greens and tees in 1973. Working nights and weekends, it eventually became a full time commitment. "He was the hardest working man I have ever known,” Doug says of his father. “He had me start working with him after school and weekends when I was 13, laboring and running a grade tractor.” Together, they graded numerous golf courses in Arizona and California. In between jobs for his dad, Doug did grading for other companies.

Familiar with Doug’s work ethic and determination, Duke Francis offered him a job with C&F Equipment. Starting as an operator, Doug was promoted to foreman, superintendent, estimator, and chief estimator during his 11 years there. One of his biggest projects was the Scottsdale Galleria where half a million tons of material were excavated to create its enormous garage in the late 1980s. The project took place before modern dust regulations and local business concerns, allowing equipment to run 24 hours a day for six months. Scottsdale Road was closed each night at 9 pm to accommodate

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lower for the construction industry, but Doug’s firm has made it thanks to practical knowledge, experience, and guts.

Doug learned the construction business hands-on, from the ground up, but never wanted his own business after observing the struggles his dad and grandfather experienced. He cautions that many small businesses are inherited, and the kids who take them over sometimes don’t do as well. “Learn the business before you get into it,” Doug advises.

“Don’t just assume when you go to the Del Webb School of Construction Management that you know how to run a business like this, because it’s tough. Under the best of conditions it’s tough.”

“I can’t tell you how many sleepless nights there were worrying about payroll, or payroll taxes, or a line of credit, or a lack of line of credit,” Doug says. "This is a very capital intensive business. If you experience a slow period, and then pick up a decent-sized job, you have to find the employees, and pay fuel costs every 15 days. So if you are going to spend $200 thousand in fuel over a month, you better have that on hand, plus the cost of maintaining it and paying employees.”

The Phoenix housing boom that started in 2004 was good for Gunsight.

Still, Doug and his remaining partner wisely saved for leaner times. The company was virtually debt free when the housing crisis

Doug Allen, 2015.

began in 2009. But their construction yard was full of equipment including four big scrapers, which were idle for almost a year as they went from 120 to about 25 employees. The company kept the salaried people and the best hourly employees.

“You don’t cut people when times are bad, if they took care of you when times were good,” he says.

The future again looks bright for Gunsight, a company Doug says is “truly a mom and pop business.” He bought out his remaining partner last year and does much of the firm’s estimating and project management. His wife, Deb, does the books, and a son is a mechanic. They have 65 employees and a fleet of close to 100 pieces including several street sweepers,

“You don’t cut people when times are bad, if they took care of you when times were good.”

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which they also operate for general contractors, churches, and schools on weekends.

Although Gunsight has completed major projects including many schools and support facilities for the Dysart School District, Doug says, “I’ve never stopped learning in this business.” When asked if he loves what he does, he smiles warmly and says that “….it pays the bills. It’s been good to me.” He also enjoys travel, baseball, anything with a motor, their five kids, and five grandkids, three of which have been adopted.

Doug Allen is the sort of guy you want to see succeed: he’s decent, honest, and brave without being cocky. It’s safe to guess that over the past two decades, people have been cheering for him. Congratulations to Doug on Gunsight Construction’s 20 year anniversary and best wishes for continued success.

Spring 2015

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Arizona Contractor & Community

The Sign of Success: Courtesy Chevrolet Turns 60 Katie Mayer

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n the Phoenix stretch of Camelback Road occupied largely by auto dealerships, shiny new cars line either side of the street like corn on the cob. Overhead, vibrant balloons float in the sky and inflatable bobbing characters attempt to capture the attention of passing motorists. But despite the many competing visuals and bright colors dazzling the busy thoroughfare, there remains one sparkling standout that for decades has put everything else in the shade – the towering blue and yellow Courtesy Chevrolet arrow sign. It has been featured in articles, appeared in movies, and even landed a permanent spot in the backdrop of an XBOX video game.

This year, the dazzling sign and the dealership to which it belongs are celebrating 60 years in the Valley. As a family business, the Courtesy Chevrolet owners remain grateful for the past built by their forefather and the decades of customer loyalty, which has taken them where they are today. After weathering the fierce economic downturn and expanding into California, Courtesy Chevrolet is now planning for a future as bright as the sign that towers above them.

“We have been able to stay very strong just on the founding principles of taking care of employees and customers,” said Scott Gruwell, general manager of Courtesy Chevrolet. “If you treat your employees well, they treat the customers well and it comes full circle.”

Bold beginnings Founded in 1955 by Gruwell’s grandfather Edward J. Fitzgerald and prominent California car dealership owner R. Mitchel McClure, Courtesy Chevrolet was a standout dealership even before its glitzy signage. In a bold move, the owners established the business at 1233 East Camelback Road, which was, at the time, outside the boundaries of Phoenix, then located at the Grand Canal – about a half-mile south of the dealership.

Fitzgerald was a World War II veteran who became an auto mechanic in Southern California following his service. When customers didn’t want to fix their cars, Fitzgerald often purchased, repaired, and then sold them. “He realized he was better at selling them than fixing them and so he started working at the original Courtesy Chevrolet in Los Angeles,” Gruwell said.

Fitzgerald soon caught the attention of McClure and the two became business partners, with Fitzgerald moving out to Phoenix to launch Courtesy Chevrolet, which in 1981 was partially acquired by Fitzgerald’s son-in-law William “Bill” R. Gruwell. “My grandfather wanted it to be the biggest and most noticeable on Camelback, because there wasn’t a lot out here,” Gruwell said.

So one of the ways Fitzgerald accomplished that was through his impressive sign. Towering high above the dealership and over the street, the glowing yellow and two-toned blue arrow became a way to capture customers’ attention and direct them onto the lot.

Becoming an icon

Image courtesy of Katie Mayer

According to family stories, Fitzgerald’s wife sketched the idea for the large arrowshaped sign on a cocktail napkin while sitting in a bar. “We’d give anything to find that napkin,” said Dane Christensen, owner of Christy Signs, which has serviced the sign for more than 30 years.

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New owners of Courtesy Chevrolet, 1962.

Inset: Ed Fitzgerald overseeing renovations at Courtesy Chevrolet, 1969.

Images courtesy of ACC

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Images courtesy of ACC

Today, the iconic sign which many local historians agree was designed by prominent Valley sign maker Glen Guyette, remains a consistent brand and identity of Courtesy Chevrolet – but like any celebrity – it has faced its share of naysayers.

First there was the time in the early 1980s when the dealership was adding new signage to the property and city officials said the sign needed to come down. “We fought it,” Gruwell said lightheartedly, “but it was an easy fight.”

Then, Gruwell thought he would try to ensure the sign’s survival, but reconsidered when he realized it meant he would lose ownership of it. “I went to make it a historic landmark, but…the land would have been deeded to the historic society,” Gruwell said.

Then, there was the time where the executive from Detroit came out to inspect their dealership to make sure it was consistent with brand standards for Chevrolet, and again the owners were told the sign needed to come down. “That was Top left: William "Bill" Gruwell, 1972.

Top right: Courtesy Chevrolet model poses in front of customer wagons, 1966.

Below: Courtesy Chevrolet, 1967.

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an easy one too,” Gruwell said.

And finally, there was the recent windstorm that threatened to knock the sign down. However, it has since been stabilized and now also boasts LED lighting.

“We’ve repainted it many times over the years and changed the lights out when it has storm damage,” Christensen said.

“It’s working 100 percent now, but it’s kind of like the Golden Gate Bridge…it’s such a big old thing and it’s been out there so long, but it’s still doing its job.” He added, “Because of its age, we are out there at least once a month, but when the Gruwell family comes calling, we come running.”

Gruwell said that despite the costs of maintaining the sign, it’s not going anywhere. “I think there would be an actual social uproar if anything happened to it,” Gruwell said.

The people and the product While the outside of Courtesy Chevrolet is immediately recognizable to many Valley residents, it’s what’s on the inside that’s responsible for their success.

The dealership’s commercial fleet department is the largest commercial Chevrolet dealer on the West Coast, Gruwell said. And the sales and service

team in the commercial department boasts more than 100 years of experience.

Commercial Fleet Sales Director John Lundin has been with the team for more than 30 years and worked his way up from a used car lot attendant in 1984. “This whole thing is all about relationships,” Lundin said. “Anybody can sell a vehicle, but it’s about taking care of the customers.”

At Courtesy Chevrolet, the commercial department not only has its own separate sales team, but its own financing and service center too. The Chevy Silverado pickup truck, in various configurations, remains the most popular vehicle sold on the commercial side. Large customers include everyone from the State of Arizona and City of Phoenix to Sundt Construction and Kitchell to Hunt Construction Group and Courier Construction, among many more. “We like dealing with Courtesy Chevrolet so much that we buy all of our cars and trucks for our Texas offices from them,” said John Haney, vice president of business development for Loftin Equipment Co. Many customers said they haven’t experienced the same level of service anywhere besides Courtesy Chevrolet, and that’s what keeps them coming back.

“Frankly, our business is built on excellent customer service, so we look to our vendors to be a partner to us and provide the same level of service, and Courtesy Chevrolet has proven to be that type of partner in business,” said Patty Coleman, director of fleet for Sunstate Equipment Company.

“Sometimes I’m surprised that they anticipate our needs and have vehicles in Arizona Contractor & Community

Image courtesy of ACC

our required configuration available even before we’ve placed an order,” said Todd Klimas, vice president of Wilson Electric Services Corp.

As such a steady supplier to the Arizona construction industry, Courtesy Chevrolet undoubtedly made its own imprint on the decades of development in the Valley. “We are proud to serve the construction community,” Gruwell said.

“They built this town and we have too.”

But as special as it was to build the town, it wasn’t easy. And when the great recession struck, so did the family-owned business’ toughest times yet.

Refusing to fail liquidate their cars, downsize their fleets and getting them cash quickly.” He added, “Nothing has ever been like this. Ever.”

Still, Gruwell said that failure “wasn’t an option” and the family resolved to “hunker down” and survive the tough days not only for their family and their forefather, but for their customers.

All in the family Today, as the dealership turns 60, Courtesy Chevrolet is armed with the kind of wisdom that comes only from experiencing the highs and lows of a life well-lived. They’re grateful; they’re successful and they’re strong. The Gruwell family, including Scott Gruwell’s father and brother Mark Gruwell, still own the business and even Scott Gruwell’s brother-in-law, Jason Church, works for the company.

The business employs nearly 250 employees and has expanded to include three dealerships in Arizona and Southern California. And the company gives back to the community by regularly supporting schools and donating to area fundraisers.

Gruwell is also a member of the nonprofit Scottsdale Charros.

At a time when many car dealerships are being acquired by publicly held companies, the Gruwell family plans to stick to their roots. And longtime customers, like Nick Farrantello, vice president of Star Plastering in Phoenix, appreciate that. “I hold family businesses very close to my heart,” Farrantello said, “and we’ll keep on doing business with them as long as they’re around.”

Gruwell said he someday hopes to have “even the fifth and sixth generations coming through here.” “It has been fun building relationships with companies that start off small and watching them grow,” Gruwell said,” and growing with them has been the neatest part.”

Top: Courtesy Chevrolet staff, 1976.

Bottom, left to right: Ernie Vieane, Kenny Lawrence, Joe Pfeffer, Diane Beaumont, Berney Kullos, John Lundin, Gary Ellis, Jeff Kenerly, Sam Garber, Gerardo Perez, Jarred Alvarado and Perry Perez.

Image courtesy of Katie Mayer

As if watching their own family’s company suffer wasn’t hard enough, the owners of Courtesy Chevrolet experienced the losses alongside the customers – and friends – they had known for decades. “It was a scary time for certain,” Gruwell said. “It was hard to see those guys suffer so bad, because we’re all in this together.”

Courtesy Chevrolet’s business declined about 60 percent; the company had to layoff valuable employees and longtime customers were closing their doors.

With the Hispanic community making up a strong percentage of retail buyers at Courtesy Chevrolet, the loss of jobs coupled with controversial legislation like SB 1070 meant fewer cars were sold on the retail side of the business as well. “We had a triple hit,” Gruwell said. “The banks stopped lending and the construction industry was suffering and we lost Hispanic community buyers.”

Especially painful was seeing customers to whom Courtesy Chevrolet had sold trucks, now asking the dealership to buy them back. “We were helping them

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Arizona Contractor & Community

The Refresh Movement Doug Sydnor, FAIA doug_sydnor@gensler.com Architecture and its merits have been written about and discussed for literally thousands of years. How we recognize architecture when we see it and simply define it has been an elusive and challenging path. There appears to be a consensus that a mere building accommodates a function or use and provides shelter from the natural elements, but for it to be elevated to architecture it needs to stir the imagination.

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examine the current Refresh Movement a movement that is inheriting a vast inventory of existing commercial buildings that are empty, nearly empty, or functionally obsolete; and making them more competitive in today’s marketplace.

Many of these structures were originally for a single large user, which may have since scaled back the size of their staff and/or operations. However, there is a new demand for small to mid-size work spaces so some of these structures are being refreshed or transformed to attract multiple tenants. Such changes are requiring existing structures become more flexible and can be adaptable to new future uses that are not predictable today. The benefit of this approach is that it starts to bring together unexpected use juxtapositions or a new hybrid mix of uses.

Such a unique mix can bring about new experiences, positive exchanges between them, shared resources, or a new dynamic quality not considered about previously.

Other cultures around the world have been more open and flexible about the use

Images courtesy of Gensler

reating architecture with this inspiring aspect has been hotly debated over time. With today’s wide range of available construction materials, sophisticated technologies used in design, and innovative construction methods we are witnessing that most anything that we imagine can be built; and should the funding be available. The bigger question that should always be asked is whether a specific work of architecture is appropriate for its surroundings, immediate site, use, available technologies, client expectations, society, and the financials.

Arizona Contractor and Community magazine would like to initiate a dialogue about different architectural approaches among architects that design much of our community. This “Architect’s Perspective” would facilitate this conversation and feature architects that have positively impacted the built environment in Arizona or have a knowledge of those architects that come before and delivered extraordinary architectural results. We encourage you to directly communicate with them and respond to their ideas, as it can only improve our mutual understanding about architecture, architects, and the role of each in society.

To kick-off this dialogue the inaugural Architect’s Perspective would like to briefly

mix, but there are some very encouraging signs within the U.S that we are becoming more tolerant and experimental with mixed-use structures and developments.

Jay Silverberg, AIA, Design Principal at Gensler in Phoenix states “Building owners are realizing the financial and communitybased advantages of re-envisioning the existing building stock for new programmatic uses and as strategic activators contributing to the city at large.”

He goes on to say “Repositioning of the existing building stock is a strategy to reinforce and create immersive environments that contribute to the community as a whole. Each property has its own DNA, our focus has been to understand the existing infrastructure, revitalize under-utilized use opportunities, and the properties history to re-connect the building to the community.”

Existing architectural character may not be keeping pace with current market demands and may require an aesthetic upgrade or refresh approach. Additional daylighting for the interiors, energy efficiency with better insulated building envelopes, an identifiable main entry, shading devices to mitigate our harsh sunlight, and a more durable materials palette can all inform or influence a new refreshed exterior character. New creative and selective exterior features can reidentify the existing character in surprising ways.

New site improvement requirements are also impacting existing developments such as activating or proposing exterior courtyards and shaded patios for employee use as staff break areas, and smaller scale recreational amenities. Some

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office parking ratios have increased from three to nine parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of office space, given that there is simply more office employees per square feet of space. This can make it physically very challenging for older properties that do not have the available area to provide the additional parking.

A current refresh project is The Circuit Tempe, formerly an industrial manufacturing facility for Jabil Circuit located at 615 South River Drive in Tempe, Arizona. Jay Silverberg, AIA, of Gensler states of this project, “Constructed in 1991, the existing 250,000 square feet building has supported various manufacturing uses until its recent acquisition. The single-story building lacked identity and presence.

Conceived to be transformed into a creative Class-A office opportunity through design and creativity, the design strategy was to reposition the north side of the building into a multitenant front door experience linked by an extensive ‘Amenity Porch.’ This element transforms the present service and delivery area into a vibrant, shaded amenity space while simultaneously developing a new contemporary image for the building. Strategic outdoor patios with overhead glass doors create shaded indoor/outdoor opportunities. A shared lobby element connected by an exterior entry portal affords a new marketing/sales lobby to facilitate tours and prospective tenant presentations within the volume of the existing structure. Re-developed

parking at seven spaces per 1,000 square feet, landscaped retention areas and pedestrian courtyards link the site experience as a unified development.

Authenticity of the existing building is highlighted through the sensitive use of building materials and color. Sandblasted masonry, exposed steel structure, and the addition of significant new window openings create a contemporary creative image embracing the architectural character of the existing structure.”

Additional benefits of the “Refresh Movement” are that we are salvaging our existing building stock and not being so quick to dispose of them, which is a sustainable strategy. The most ‘green’ architecture is an existing structure that is saved, and not built new.

This strategy requires substantially less energy and natural resources to create, while also extending the life of an existing real estate asset for

The “Refresh Movement” also encourages us to save our architectural heritage including historicallysignificant structures.

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its owner. Such a movement also enables the property owner to use their real estate to help attract and retain tenants; and both parties also attract and retain the most talented employees. The “Refresh Movement” also encourages us to save our architectural heritage including historicallysignificant structures, which will make our built communities so much more visually rich and with an energizing vitality.

Left: Interior of The Circuit Tempe before and after refresh project.

Above: Exterior of The Circuit Tempe before and after refresh project.

Arizona Contractor & Community

Adaptable Grader: The Huber Road Maintainer Digging Through the Archives William Horner

The Huber Road Maintainer in action with Arizona Sand & Rock Co., grading the tight parking area for a Union 76 Station at 7th Avenue and Thomas Road, 1948.

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s a blade operator working around the Valley, I get to do some unusual projects. My company has been contracted to replace and re-grade parking lots with valley gutters (or small drainage flumes) placed in odd areas, narrow roadways, and even the occasional trailer court with short, paved pathways. I’ve often wondered how the grading was accomplished long ago on these jobs, as the typical motorized grader (or blade) is not conducive to working in tight quarters.

It’s likely that, before the development of adequate machinery, much of the work was done using hand labor. While motorized graders would eventually perform the work in big open parking areas and roads, what was used in the tiny parking areas and narrow

pathways? The Ford Motor Company and Massey Ferguson Company offered small tractors during the 1940s and 1950s. While these tractors were primarily used for agricultural purposes, they could also be fitted with a Gannon box for grading house pads before the concrete foundation was poured.

Searching through old construction archives, however, it seems that the choice for grading in confined places was the Huber Road Maintainer.

Edward Huber was an American inventor who is famous for designing an agricultural revolving hay rake that allowed one man to do in three hours what three men could accomplish in a day. The rake was patented in 1863 and Huber’s company soon produced a full line of agricultural implements in Marion, Ohio.

Jim Morrow and his Huber Road Maintainer, 2014.

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The firm later entered the heavy construction equipment market, spurred on by a 1942 request during World War II, from the U.S. War Department. To support the military effort, the company created the Huber Road Maintainer to meet the needs of road grading in narrow passages.

Serendipitously, I recently had the opportunity to view one of Huber’s tractors at Jim Morrow’s private collection of vintage machinery in the Valley. After driving by Morrow’s impressive machinery display, I spoke with him over the phone and was invited to tour his assemblage of 52 tractors, crawlers, and unique pieces of equipment.

Morrow started as a mechanic for Ray Stevens Paving in 1971. His collection includes the original service truck that Stevens purchased for him new in 1974.

Personally, the real gem on Morrow’s tour was a 1957 Huber Road Maintainer.

Morrow had purchased the Huber from Stevens and it’s the only one I’ve seen in Arizona. He confirmed that the tractor was used in grading narrow parking areas and other tight areas too small for a blade, but too large for manual labor.

Other notable machinery in Morrow’s collection was a David Bradley Garden Tractor made by Montgomery Ward, a 1920s pull-behind Adams Blade, a #10 Cat crawler, and a Cletrac crawler. His personal favorite is a 1952 Oliver tractor with front hydraulic bucket. Morrow was a humble host and had a good story behind every piece of equipment in his extensive collection.

Spring 2015

Images courtesy of ACC

Clockwise starting at top left: Krumtum Contracting of Phoenix with their new Huber, early 1950s; an advertisement for the All Purpose Huber-Warco Maintainer; Bentson Contracting finishing ABC with a Huber and 12E blade at the new East High School in Phoenix for TGK Contracting, 1964.

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1/30/2015 Bitter Springs Utah State Line FNF $2,285,765 2/12/2015 Eagle Feather Road Sewer Axiom Contracting $185,650

1/29/2015 Nogales Hwy Old Nogales KE&G $808,000

2/12/2015 (CMAR)Valley View Early Concord $3,600,000

1/29/2015 Tom Jones Ford Yuma Sunland $2,061,316

2/10/2015 Grant Road Paving Granite $1,698,218

1/27/2015 Road Recovery Package 4 Southern AZ Paving $4,991,690

2/10/2015 Hughes Access Road Relocation Ashton $6,661,082

1/27/2015 Frank Luke Addition LOR Construction $18,551,483

2/6/2015 (CMAR) Water Main Replacement J Wise $2,900,000

1/22/2015 Willow Creek Water Main Fann $499,825

2/6/2015 Holbrook Springerville Hwy Sunland $3,668,000

1/21/2015 Narnja Drive Safety Improvements Southern AZ Paving $2,829,580

2/5/2015 Sossaman Road PRV Fishel Co. $3,010,81

1/21/2015 Sanitary Sewer CIPP Lining Achen Gardner $499,854

2/3/2015 Phoenix Fire Station No. 58 FCI $1,345,400

12/23/2014 Ina Road Right Turnbays Falcone Brothers $676,545

2/3/2015 Peters Road Phase I RK Sanders $610,346

12/21/2014 (CMAR) WRF Misc Repairs Felix $750,000

2/2/2015 Goodyear Blvd Improvements Combs $2,623,570

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Looking Back to 1985 Street Overlay Program - Tucson R.E. Miller Paving & Construction $2,180,000 Fanning Dr. Railroad Crossing - Flagstaff The Tanner Companies $150,000 Davis Monthan AFB - Tucson Rainbow International $157,000 Paving, 83rd Ave Glendale - Camelback Northern Arizona Contracting $856,000 New Magma Irrigation District Hunter Contracting $3,480,000 Emergency Power System - Mesa MTV General Contractors $134,000 Hayden Rd. Extension Nesbitt Contracting $1,370,000 Paving, Rosemont Blvd - Tucson Borderland Construction $81,000 Median Improvements, Hayden Rd. Robert R. Adams Contracting $85,000 Waterlines - Phoenix Tiffany Construction $143,000 Arrowhead Ranch Infrastructure Mercury Construction $748,000 Hughes Aircraft Upgrades VO Contracting $265,000 Sewer Lines, 39th Ave Peoria - Sweetwater Kokosing Construction $2,440,000

Arizona Contractor & Community

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Blueline Enterprises 928-308-1901 bluelinegrizzly.com

p. 52

Hagen Business Systems 602-570-7289 hagenbusiness.com

p. 23

Palecek & Palecek Law 602-522-2454 constructionlawyersaz.com

p. 7

Woudenberg Properties 480-620-8555 Woudenbergprops.com

p. 28

Branco Machinery 480-892-5657 brancomachinery.com

IFC

Hertz Equipment Rental 888-777-2700 hertzequip.com

p. 49

Pete King 602-944-4441 Petekingaz.com

p. 60

WSM Auctioneers 623-936-3300 wsmauctioneers.com

p. 27

Cemex 520-682-4063 cemexusa.com

p. 48

Industrial Metal Supply Co 602-454-1500 Industrialmetalsupply.com

p. 60

RDO Equipment Co 877-90-RDOIC rdoic.com

P. 13

Conveyer Sales 602-273-1455 conveyorsales.com

p. 40

Joel Westervelt Architect 928-567-2255 joelwesterveltarchitect.com

p. 25

Red Mountain Rentals 480-477-9400 redmountainrentals.com

IBC

Courtesy Chevrolet 866-980-4543 Courtesyfleet.com

p. 34

KMG Construction 480-614-1955 kmgsolutionsinc.com

p. 21

Reuter Fabrication 602-415-0449 reuterequipment.com

p. 46

Sixty two

p. 31 & 52

p. 55

p. 21 & 25

p. 4 & 45

Spring 2015

PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Phoenix, AZ Permit No. 3418