Volume 5 Issue 1
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Serving Contracting Firms and the Arizona Community…
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Arizona contractor & Community
Spring 2016 Volume 5 Issue 1 Publisher William Horner Billy@arizcc.com Editor Douglas Towne Douglas@arizcc.com
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Contributing Writers Lee Addis Christia Gibbons Emma Green Katie Mayer Elaine Hagen McBride Doug Sydnor Production Manager Laura Horner Laura@arizcc.com Magazine Consultant Chuck Runbeck Chuck@arizcc.com
Publisher’s Representatives Shane Addington Shane@arizcc.com Tom Hogarty Flavors of What’s your Tom@arizcc.com Louisiana - The favorite Arizona most authentic Chuck Runbeck restaurant and Southern cuisine in Chuck@arizcc.com why? the Valley. Barry Warner Barry@arizcc.com
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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. Arizona Contractor & Community Copyright © 2016 All rights reserved.
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Katie Mayer
Doug Sydnor
Lee addis
Christia Gibbons
Meet the Staff
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Katie Mayer - Writer Articles on pages 24,37 and 42 Favorite AZ restaurant - El Guero Canelo in Tucson. Their Sonoran hot dogs are delicious and they have so many amazing toppings. First job - Bagelmania Coffeehouse in Huntington Beach, CA. It's a local momand-pop bagel shop. It was a magical place to grow up. New skill to learn - I'd love to improve my photography. Yet despite knowing little about my camera, last year I won two national photojournalism awards. Favorite holiday - Halloween the costumes, candy, pumpkin carving and the opportunity to meet your neighbors. Goal to accomplish - Write a screenplay. I'm currently working on a dark comedy. Lee Addis - Writer Article on page 16 Favorite AZ restaurant - Los Favoritos in south Chandler for their breakfast burritos. First job - Bagging groceries at a Fry's store. New skill to learn - How to do finish grade on a blade. Favorite holiday - The month leading up to Christmas. Goal to accomplish - For my father and I to work full-time at our business, Re-Nine.
Doug Sydnor - Writer Article on page 52 Favorite AZ restaurant Shogan Sushi - their tempura dinner is extraordinary. First job - Mowing neighbor’s lawns at age 10. New skill to learn - Play the piano. Favorite holiday - Thanksgiving Day, as it is a moment when we can give thanks and be grateful for all that we have. Goal to accomplish - Host an art exhibition of my new work, which is scheduled for April 16 – May 7, 2016 at the Cattle Track Gallery, 6105 N. Cattle Track, Scottsdale. Christia Gibbons - Writer Article on page 18 Favorite AZ restaurant - The Arizona Inn in Tucson for all the past memories, and new ones to come. First job - The "morgue" (library) at The Arizona Daily Star when I was 14. New skill to learn - I would like to relearn playing the piano. Favorite holiday - Christmas the enchantment. Goal to accomplish - Monthlong baseball stadium trip with my husband, Tom.
Meet more of our staff online at: arizcc.com/staff.html Spring 2016
Letters to the Editor: Dear Mr. Towne, Our company had the honor of being the focus of a historical article written by John Bueker, featured in the Winter 2015 edition. I wanted to thank you and the staff for recognizing our company as part of the history of construction in Arizona. Dating back prior to our start in 1948, our family has always been proud to be native Arizonians and be part of building the Valley. Thank you once again for your interest in Arizona construction history and your inclusion and nice words about Homes & Son. Russ Homes Homes & Son Contractors, Inc. Dear ACC magazine, While doing some research for one of my clients, I found the media kit for Arizona Contractor & Community magazine - what a cool publication! I was immediately impressed with the features and photos, and loved the coverage of the state's historic buildings. The online version is gorgeous, but the physical magazine is especially beautiful! You're doing a great job and filling a much-needed niche in Arizona. Katy Springer Spring Communications
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Do you have stories or images about people or projects connected with Arizona construction or a historic business? Please contact us to see if we might feature your memories in an upcoming article! Douglas Towne, Editor: Douglas@arizcc.com Visit us online at: ww.arizcc.com
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Spring 2016 Volume 5 Issue 1
CONTENTS 10. 12. 30. 32. 36. 40. 42.
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From The Editor: Arizona’s “Other” Iconic Highway Douglas Towne Construction Around Arizona: Projects • People • Practices Back When: Loaded Fords - Douglas Towne Bill Noland’s Construction Horse - Douglas Towne Electronic Powerhouse: The Sperry Phoenix Story Katie Mayer Hagen’s Highlights: U.S. 60 Through the Salt River Canyon - Elaine Hagen McBride Courageous Constructors: The Knochenhauers Know Construction: You Should Know Them Katie Mayer Prime Pole Position: DJ Car Camps over Phoenix Douglas Towne Architect’s Perspective: Reginald G. Sydnor, AIA: Functionalism - Doug Sydnor, FAIA Digging Through the Archives: T.G.K. Construction - William Horner Bid Results - Bidjudge ACC Advertisers’ Index
PO Box 6912, Glendale, AZ 85312 Image courtesy of Arizona Contractor & Community
Front Cover Arizona Sand & Rock Co. pouring curb and gutters at the Phoenix Public Library for T.G.K., 1952. Serving Contracting Firms and the Arizona Community…
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Editor’s Column
Arizona’s “Other” Iconic Highway Douglas Towne
D
on’t believe the hype.
Although the oodles of Route 66 kitsch might make you believe otherwise, this is certainly NOT the most important early highway in the U.S - or even Arizona. Starting in Chicago and ending at the Santa Monica Pier, Route 66 doesn’t even provide coast-to-coast passage. And it was named the most over-rated highway by American Heritage magazine. Oh sure, there’s an undoubtedly catchy tune written about the “Mother Road.” But you’ll find Route 66 important more for the nostalgic freedom it represents than for the actual highway. A case in point is the early 1960s TV series, Route 66. Tod and Buz roamed America in a Corvette looking for adventure and meaning, yet the episodes weren’t filmed along Route 66.
My nod for the most important twolane highway though Arizona is U.S. 80, the “Ocean-to-Ocean Highway.” Certainly it lacks the mythology of the “Mother Road,” but U.S. 80 was big news back in the day. “More cars actually traveled into California on U.S. 80 than on Route 66,” Steven Varner, U.S. Highway 80 historian, says. This federal highway was created in 1926. Starting along the Atlantic Ocean in Savannah, Georgia, U.S. 80 stretched for 2,726 miles through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before reaching the Pacific Ocean in San Diego. Businesses offering gas, food, and lodging set up shop along the route. U.S. 80’s most important aspect was noted by the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads in 1927: “Because of the southern latitude and the comparatively low altitudes, the
route is never blocked by snow and is open to automobile travel the year round.” The all-weather route wasn’t so much constructed as stitched together from early auto trails that were named rather than numbered. Much of U.S. 80 had been segments of bucolic-sounding roads such as the Old Spanish Trail, the Borderland Route, the Lone Star Highway, the Lee Highway, the Jefferson Davis National Highway, the Bankhead Highway, and the Dixie Overland Highway. Although lacking Route 66’s folklore, U.S. 80 was where Bonnie and Clyde met
Images courtesy of author
For almost 50 years it was the sun-kissed southern passage preferred by early motorists.
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their demise in Louisiana in 1934. It’s also the road Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. followed on the 1965 Selma voting rights march. The highway, in Arizona and New Mexico, traversed lands obtained in the 1854 Gadsden Purchase, which were acquired to construct a transcontinental railroad along the less-mountainous southern route. U.S. 80 zigzagged its way across Arizona, passing through Douglas, Bisbee, Tombstone, Benson, Tucson, Florence, Mesa, Phoenix, Buckeye, Gila Bend, Wellton, and Yuma. Engineering highlights in Arizona include the Mule Pass Tunnel, the longest in the state, when completed outside Bisbee in 1958, the concrete-arch Cienega Creek Bridge east of Tucson finished in 1921, and Tucson’s Mission-style Stone Avenue railroad underpass built in 1936. In the Valley, U.S. 80 followed Apache Trail, Main Street, Mill, Van Buren, 17th Avenue, and Buckeye Road. The highway formed the northern boundary of the original Phoenix townsite, went by the copper-domed Arizona Capitol, and dipped down into the Art Moderne-style 17th Avenue railroad underpass constructed in 1935. Further west, U.S. 80 crossed two of Arizona’s most important bridges. The Gillespie Dam Bridge was completed over the Gila River south of Buckeye in 1927. The 1,662 foot-long, nine-span, steel truss bridge was built by Lee
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Moor Construction of El Paso, Texas. The Ocean-to-Ocean Highway Bridge, built by the Omaha Structural Steel Works of Nebraska, was built across the Colorado River at Yuma in 1915. The steel-truss bridge was the first vehicular crossing over the lower Colorado River. Over the years, much of U.S. 80 has been decommissioned and its western terminus is now Dallas. In Arizona, Interstates 8 and 10 had largely supplanted the historic highway by 1989, though sections survive as state highways or minor roads. Now largely forgotten, U.S. 80 never attained legendary status like the more poetic Route 66. For almost 50 years, however, it was the sun-kissed southern passage preferred by early motorists. And
what remains of the road continues to inspire passion. “It’s a highway that’s very worthy of an adventure vacation,” Varner says. “U.S. 80 passes through many iconic tourist towns, and there are preserved alignments and even older traces of early auto trails along the route.” Opposite, top left: Editor on U.S. 80 near Gila Bend. Opposite, top right: Maureen Towne in former U.S. 80 gas station in Tacna. Opposite, bottom: AAA map of U.S. 80 in western Arizona, 1930s. Top: Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge. Bottom: Cabana Lodge postcard, 1930s.
Arizona contractor & Community
Construction Around Arizona
Cullum Homes Breaks Ground on The Village at Silverleaf
T
here’s a new community opening in DC Ranch, the private upscale development tucked into the canyons of the McDowell Mountains. Ground was broken in December by Cullum Homes for The Village at Silverleaf, its newest offering in this exclusive Scottsdale community. These homes are designed to be “jewel boxes” set adjacent to the world-renowned Silverleaf Clubhouse, the first tee, and the driving range. The neighborhood’s 12 villas and seven club cottages are the last of the twelve
single family homes to be included in the Silverleaf neighborhood. More than half of the 19 homes have already been reserved. The homes will range in size from 2,735 to 4,468 square feet, with prices starting at $2.3 million. All homes come with access to the Club, the golf course, and spa. The homes are located in the heart of DC Ranch’s Silverleaf community. They are designed by Don Ziebell of Oz Architects and will closely reflect the architecture of the Silverleaf Clubhouse. “Over the years, I’ve learned how original French wood doors, or an Italian fireplace can become the feature of a home, the design element that everyone talks about,” Ziebell says. “Completely personal, but with a unique history, these luxurious elements can set a home apart.” Ziebell has earned an international reputation for design. His local work
includes The Royal Palms Resort and Spa in Phoenix, The Hermosa Inn in Paradise Valley, and Seven Canyons in Sedona. “Working in partnership with Don Ziebell’s team at Oz, we have created a series of homes that feel elegant, timeless, and totally personal,” Rod Cullum, cofounder of Cullum Homes, says. “These homes offer more than design though, we have created a lifestyle unlike anything else in Silverleaf.”
Images courtesy of Cassidy Campana
Construction Around Arizona
Projects ∙ Practices ∙ People
Spring 2016