Spring 2016

Volume 5 Issue 1

Sperry Phoenix: Electronic Powerhouse Reginald Sydnor’s Functional Architecture Arizona’s Sun-Kissed Southern Highway $4.99 Spring 2016

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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.

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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.

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Doug Sydnor

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Meet the Staff

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Mundalltrucking.com 602-276-0331 Dispatch 602-276-9419 Fax 602-276-2129 Office

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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.

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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!

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Spring 2016 Volume 5 Issue 1

CONTENTS 10.

12.

30.

32.

36.

40.

42.

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46.

52.

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Please remember to include your mailing address and make check payable to: A.C.C. Magazine,

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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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Spring 2016

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Arizona contractor & Community

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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Spring 2016

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

Emma Green

A

DOT’s two-and-a-half-year project featuring Loop 101 improvements is on schedule to wind down at the end of this year.

Once completed, the project will include new general-purpose lanes in both directions between Shea Boulevard and Loop 202, merge lanes between most of the interchanges giving drivers space to enter and exit the freeway, and an extra northbound lane near the Loop 202 interchange to help ease the bottleneck as drivers make the connection between both freeways.

“We’re challenged with keeping the traffic moving while also getting a lot of heavy lifting done,” said Doug Nintzel, ADOT spokesman. “But we knew that before the project started, and the good news is we’re into the final year of the work on the new lanes.”

The $74 million project is part of the Maricopa Association of Governments’ (MAG) 20-year Regional Transportation Plan approved by Phoenix-area voters in 2004. With the continued rise of traffic levels in the Phoenix metro area, widening the 11-mile stretch of freeway, which often carries more than 125,000 vehicles per day, became a necessary measure to

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Images courtesy of ADOT

Construction Around Arizona

Pulice and ADOT Improve Loop 101 Traffic Flow

accommodate the future growth of Scottsdale, Tempe, and Chandler areas.

Work on the project began August 2014 and is scheduled to end in December 2016. With approximately 80 percent of road work complete, remaining tasks include placing incremental concrete segments, landscaping, landform graphics, signage, lighting, and final paving.

However, the schedule has had to reflect some limits on when the contractor could schedule closures or major lane restrictions because of major events in the Scottsdale area and elsewhere around the Valley.

“There are so many special events to work around that the closures seem to be never ending and that’s why they have the longer construction schedule,” said Quinn Castro, MAG representative. “However, in terms of complaints, there’s been very little negative feedback, and I think people will be really happy once it’s completed to have that extra capacity on the freeway,” Castro said.

Throughout the construction process ADOT has worked closely with the prime contractor on the job, Pulice Construction Inc. of Phoenix, to maintain four travel lanes in each direction, including existing HOV lanes, while adding the new outsideshoulder lanes, widening bridges over major cross streets and reconstructing onand off-ramps to fit into the improved freeway.

ADOT also is planning the addition of a general-use lane in each direction along Loop 101 south from U.S. 60 to Loop 202 in the upcoming years, when MAG projects’ funding becomes available. “That construction isn’t scheduled until 2023 and we have a number of projects that are in the queue but we’re really hoping to accelerate some of these dates by one to three years,” said Eric Anderson, MAG transportation director.

Emma Green is a student reporter at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Spring 2016

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Arizona contractor & Community

Images courtesy of author

Construction Around Arizona

Chandler Airport Center Launched Lee Addis

M

ore than airplanes are taking off around the Chandler Airport.

Adjacent to the southeast Valley airport, farm fields are being redeveloped into an industrial business park called the Metro Chandler Airport Center.

Two buildings are currently being constructed on a 20-acre field, which was being farmed as recently as August 2015, at the southwest corner of Germann and

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Cooper roads. This intersection is just a half mile south of the Loop 202. Combined, the two buildings consist of more than 200,000 square feet and feature 34 truck docks. To accommodate a wide range of businesses, the space will be dividable down to 7,541 square feet. There are plans for another 48,000 square feet of development on the property.

Project owner Metro Commercial Properties selected Nitti Graycor as the general contractor. Several subcontractors are being used on the project.

Hardrock Concrete built slabs along with constructing the tilt-up panels. Marco Crane and Rigging raised these panels using their 300-ton capacity Link Belt 348

crawler crane. Kinkaid Civil Construction did the underground utilities, including several large underground storm water retentions. These required dry wells for drainage, which were installed by Torrent Resources.

Scotts Diversified Construction is preparing the site for curb installation and paving. This company also performed the initial site work that included building the pads, cutting the truck docks to grade, and digging retentions on the property. Roofing is being done by Specialty Roofing.

The Metro Chandler Airport Center project is projected to be completed in March 2016.

Spring 2016

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Arizona contractor & Community

Christia Gibbons

C

ode name: Flagstaff Facilities P3 Project.

The intrigue: Movie screens, driver licenses, improved roadways, new stores, and student housing.

The operatives: Phoenix-based Vintage Partners development company, Harkins Theatres, the city of Flagstaff, and the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The climatic ending: Completion of a 16-screen Harkins Theatre with all the bells and whistles scheduled to open in the fall near Flagstaff Mall; a new Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) office at the old Harkins site (replacing a 55-year-old MVD office facility) set to open in 2017; a retail and multi-residential housing redevelopment project at the old MVD site; and greater ease and road access.

All the pieces could take at least five years “since the project involves Harkins’ move to a new location, extensive renovation of the existing Harkins building, and the construction of the roadway improvements,” Laura Douglas, an ADOT spokeswoman, said.

The one-of-the-first-of-its-kind publicprivate partnership for ADOT involved adding city-owned property next to ADOT’s property on Milton Road, which created an

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Images courtesy of author

Construction Around Arizona

“Triple Feature” Flagstaff Construction Project

18-acre parcel at the corner of Milton and the city’s planned extension of University Drive, according to Douglas. The city will extend University and reconfigure Beulah Boulevard to create easier access, while Vintage Partners will revamp the old Harkins Theatre into a new MVD office and ADOT’s Northcentral District headquarters, including construction labs.

The new ADOT location is not far from the current location, where Vintage Partner’s Casey Treadwell said his company plans to develop retail services such as restaurants and a grocery store.

“Milton is a highly sought after location,” Treadwell said.

The multi-housing aspect of the redevelopment project is being handled by Core Campus, said Brian J. Kulina, planning development manager with the city of Flagstaff.

In another interesting plot twist, ADOT owns the land where Harkins is building its new theater on a ground lease by Vintage Partners.

That 72,000-square-feet theater, east of Flagstaff Mall, will replace the Flagstaff 11, which will be open during construction of the new theater. Harkins declined to disclose the construction cost, but according to a city permit, it’s $5 million.

Plush rocking seats, stadium seating, and wall-to-wall curved screens will be featured, as well as an expanded concession stand offering White Castle cheeseburgers, Nathan’s Mini-Corndogs, mac and cheese bites, and popcorn chicken. Scottsdale-based Double AA Builders is constructing the new theater.

Kulina said the city currently is reviewing the concept plan for the ADOT office relocation and a site plan/preliminary plat for the redevelopment of the existing ADOT/city-owned sites.

ADOT’s Douglas said the Flagstaff Facilities P3 Project began in April 2012 and Vintage Partners was selected in February 2013. ADOT was granted authority for such partnerships in 2009 to help it work with the private sector to move projects forward by using private-sector funding or expertise, or alternative procurement methods.

City approvals and El Nino rains have delayed Harkins construction along the way, Treadwell said, but once the new theater is complete, construction can begin on other aspects of the Flagstaff Facilities P3 Project.

“It’s not an everyday project, that’s for sure,” he said. “It’s long, but hopefully it’s a beneficial project for everybody.”

Spring 2016

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Arizona contractor & Community

Construction Around Arizona

Emma Green

P

alm Glen shopping center, constructed in 1961 at the northwest corner of Glendale and 35th avenues, recently underwent exterior renovations. The shopping center was acquired in 2014 by Los Angeles-based Primestor Development for $14.35 million. Palm Glen sits on a 20-acre lot with 250,000-square-feet of buildings configured for multi-tenant retail use and is currently home to approximately 30 storefronts.

Palm Glen was originally one of two new shopping centers announced for the West Valley by O’Malley Investment & Realty Company in the fall of 1960. The center was designed by architect Harry Youngkin and the structural engineering firm of Lowry & Sorensen, and had original tenants such as Lucky Grocery store, Skaggs Drug Center, and T.G. & Y. variety stores.

Part of the original design included an enclosed, air-conditioned walkway running along the length of storefronts to provide relief for shoppers from the Arizona heat.

“It was the center’s most unique feature,” said John Bueker, Glendale resident and Palm Glen shopper. “It’s the only strip mall of its time that I’ve ever seen that had an enclosed air-conditioned walkway. It was a really nice shopping center."

The center was renovated in 1990. The current revamp on the strip mall began in June 2015; Chasse Building Team was the general contractor and Ware Malcomb was the architect. The project, with total costs around $1.9 million, included renovation of the center’s façade, anchor spaces and site work, application of a new exterior design, a new branding campaign, increased lighting, landscaping, tower elements, site amenities, and signage.

Andre Karroum, Chasse Building Team project manager, said his company’s goal was to provide an exterior renovation face-lift, while working to modernize and attract new tenants and leasing prospects.

“They had a couple of different architects on the project,” said Travis Muilenburg, senior project coordinator

with Ware Malcomb. “One was kind of going for a Southwest style and another one was simple canopies, and when they came to us we gave them the design solution that we’ve actually constructed.”

The project, completed in December, is anchored by several big brand tenants including a Food City grocery store, Wells Fargo, Dollar Tree, Shoe Barn, Little Caesar’s Pizza, and Title Max. The center serves a population of nearly 20,000.

“It had become pretty ghetto; it was in pretty bad shape so I was really pleased to see that they had sunk some money into it to fix it up,” Bueker said. “I think it’s been a very positive development.”

Emma Green is a student journalist at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Images courtesy of Arizona Contractor & Community

Palm Glen Center Sprouts New Look

Aerial view of original plaza, 1973.

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Spring 2016

Miura Contracting

J

enn Escarcega has worked in the construction industry in a myriad of jobs for a handful of companies. Although her career has taken her from a receptionist for Granite Construction to the co-owner of Miura Contracting, the view out the window has changed little in Tucson.

“The funny thing is 20 years ago we had this mailman named JC, who would deliver mail every day to Granite where I first worked,” Jenn says. “And now he is our mailman at Miura!”

Jenn first became part of the construction industry at age 19 after moving to Tucson from New York with her family in 1995. “My first job was right off

Contractors Way at Granite Construction as a receptionist,” she says. “Over the past 20 years I have worked for Granite, KE&G, Hunter, and Barker Morrissey.”

Jenn eventually became co-owner and vice president of Miura Contracting, which she owns along with her husband, Mike Escarcega. He’s also the company’s president and estimator. Their offices are located down the block from where Jenn started her construction career at Granite.

“I believe that our story is interesting and inspirational to others in the construction community,” she comments.

The Escarcega’s initially started Eagle EGC in 2008, and acquired Miura Contracting in 2014. “Miura Contracting was owned and operated by Noreen Cataldi since 1989, and she’s now retired,” Jenn says.

Miura is a general contractor and subcontractor that focuses on public sector work, but also performs jobs for private entities. They specialize in commercial concrete projects and also do some site Concrete pour for KE&G Construction on the City of Tucson Los Reales Landfill project.

Images courtesy of author

Construction Around Arizona

New Position, New Company, Same Neighborhood:

work and grading. Other principals in the firm include Pat O'Barr, the chief estimator and project manager, and Omar Valenzuela, the superintendent and foreman. Both have been with Miura for 10 years.

Some of the most memorable projects Miura has performed include work for ADOT at San Xavier Road at the Santa Cruz River, at Orange Grove and Interstate 10, barrier repair at the Ruby Overpass in Nogales, and along U.S. Highway 70 between Globe and Lordsburg, New Mexico. The company has also performed concrete work at Tucson International Airport and Davis Monthan Air Force Base.

And what does the future hold for Miura? “We’re already teaching our two youngest daughters the construction industry,” Jenn says. “They’ll be the next generation in the industry after all the baby boomers retire.”

Above: Owner Jenn Escarcega with stepdaughter Julia Zuniga.

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Arizona contractor & Community

Katie Mayer

R

egistered Arizona Land Surveyor Tim Gaudette started working in his field for a simple reason – he loved telescopes.

First trained by the U.S. Marine Corps, Gaudette has traveled around the world for his job. Nearly 45 years later, he continues to locate, describe, monument, and map land as the Chief of Parties for Lemme Engineering. And, of course, he still loves telescopes.

Gaudette recently put down his theodolite (a survey instrument with a telescope) to chat with us about his work on some of Arizona’s most prominent buildings, how his industry has changed, and a few adventures along the way.

How has field surveying changed?

The technology – there were not electronic measuring machines or computers when I started. There were barely calculators. You used log books, which is a book of logarithms, and a slide rule. I’m good at math, but I have terrible penmanship and we take tons of notes, so I jumped at the chance to use new technology instead of hand writing things.

Do you still use traditional surveying methods?

Yes, in fact you have to rely on them in certain situations, such as doing grid lines for a big building. That all has to be done with a tape or checked with tape.

About 50 percent of the time we use conventional methods with a theodolite and an electronic distance meter (EDM) and the other half of the time is pretty much GPS. What new technology has had the biggest impact?

GPS by far…at first I thought it was magic. After I used it a little bit, I realized it’s just another tool. The limitations are that it’s very difficult to stake a perfectly straight line and when you’re doing grid work, you need that. The other drawback is masking – behind tall buildings or under tree cover, you can’t pick up the satellites.

What field challenges have you had?

About 25 years ago, I got into a situation where a wolf hybrid was stalking me out in the wilderness north of Carefree.

I was headed back to my truck and it was obvious he was heading to the truck to cut me off and get me there. The owner came and got him and corralled him. He told me the wolf hybrid had gotten out of his pen and was pretty dangerous. There are also rattlesnakes.

What activities has the public mistaken your surveying work for?

We were in a bad neighborhood and the locals thought we had them under surveillance. That was very uncomfortable because they were not happy. Once we

Images courtesy of Lemme

Construction Around Arizona

Lemme Engineering: Questions with Tim Gaudette

convinced them that we weren’t conducting surveillance on them – we were actually working – they left us alone.

What projects have been challenging?

We did some work on Chase Field, which is a huge structure and just to get around and be in the spot where you want to be is difficult. We’re working on the 91st Avenue sewer treatment plant and that one is quite a challenge because you’re dealing with a whole array of processing machinery and piping. It just really takes a broad knowledge of what’s happening to even understand the plans.

What are the most memorable stamped brass caps you’ve found?

The oldest one I’ve found is from 1912 on South Mountain. I once found one in a man’s backyard in Cave Creek underneath his little fountain. Another one was a stone monument I found in Deer Valley. It was an original stone monument set in the 1800s and it was faceted, almost like a jewelry stone. It was as big as a large coffee cup and it looked like it was made of a material similar to gray Onyx, almost like a big gem stone.

What’s rewarding about your career?

I like the large construction. I like driving by there and saying I had a part in that. The other thing is when I run into a difficult boundary problem and come up with a viable solution for it. It’s the surveyor’s job to find a solution. I’ve stuck with it so long because it is hard work, but it can actually be fun.

Top: Tim working at the Thompson Peak Tower.

Left: Unusual survey mark on the ceiling at 23rd Ave APS project.

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Construction Around Arizona

Speedy Construction Funding with New On-Line Dashboard

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espite high-tech equipment and skilled technicians, money still drives construction. Having up-to-the-minute knowledge of project funding is a vital resource. A new web-based tool, DrawAlert, has the goal to provide construction funding transparency on projects, providing visibility to all involved parties.

“Even with the best of draw schedules, communication issues can lead to funding delays,” co-founder of DrawAlert, Ted Ritter, says. “Any construction project delay can quickly spiral into increased project costs and increased anxiety by all parties.”

DrawAlert is a state-of-the-art online portal that provides project and pre-lien dashboards, a peer-rated contractor directory, and real-time transmission of draw release data. This information is

visible to all stakeholders, including banks, owners, general contractors, subcontractors, and lien services.

A DrawAlert Certified Project provides construction funding transparency and peace of mind because only top-rated contractors and subcontractors are selected.

Stakeholders are electronically notified when a draw is funded, reducing the typical burden of managing project stakeholders and the pre-lien process.

Utilizing the DrawAlert solution can increase quality and productivity on projects while reducing risk. The on-line portal is a six-step process, which starts with lenders requiring use of the DrawAlert portal. Owners then invite their general contractor of choice, who in turn invites subcontractors and suppliers.

Contractors have access to lien services.

All project members are notified when draws are released, and have a projectspecific dashboard and resource directory.

"The construction industry needs a transparent funding process," Tom Pritscher, co-founder of DrawAlert, says.

“DrawAlert provides that transparency while fostering professional and respectful business partnerships for all key stakeholders.”

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Construction Around Arizona

New Social Network for Construction Industry

N

ext time you see construction workers focused on their smart phones, they might not be playing games or checking their Facebook page. They’re probably hard at work posting on BuildBoom, a social platform that provides members of the industry a professional space to connect and create communities around projects.

The new network is reaching for some lofty goals. “BuildBoom is here to change communication in the construction industry as we know it today,” Anna Sawchuk, the firm’s social media coordinator, says.

BuildBoom allows its users to connect in several ways. Each member has

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a public profile that showcases a history of employers, as well as current and past projects. This enables people and companies to have a public record of their project accomplishments. BuildBoom users can also create company pages, pin their projects on a map, list their capabilities, and share their favorite brands.

"With BuildBoom, important connections will no longer be lost once a project is completed,” Michelle Fairburn, BuildBoom’s director of operations, comments.

The value for each user is different depending on their role in the industry.

General contractors can post bulletins and safety information that will reach field workers. Similarly, field workers can post progress images and other related content that their superintendents and project managers can view.

Millennials are replacing older generations in construction, with social media being their primary method for communication.

They’ve been constrained to using general social channels that have no particular content focus.

Posting construction-related content onto these networks is irrelevant to most of the audience. This realization is what triggered the creation

of BuildBoom, a virtual place where the construction community can communicate industry-related content.

BuildBoom co-founder James Faulkner understands that relationships are everything and yet they often fade quickly between individuals once a project is complete. “The construction industry has some of the hardest workers,” Faulkner declares. “This platform is dedicated to them.”

Spring 2016

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Arizona contractor & Community

Back When

Loaded Fords Douglas Towne

F

or architects, contractors, and engineers, sometimes a vehicle’s weight is more important than its style. A case in point is this unusual auto display erected by Frameless Metal Buildings, Inc. at their plant at 2947 West Broadway in Phoenix. Built in 1960, it was designed to show off their Behlen “DublPanl” clear-span roof structure, more than to highlight the seven Fords on top, which had been loaned by the Read Mullan Motor Company.

The auto display demonstrated the application of the roof system to other types of buildings where a clear-span is important, such as shopping centers, bowling alleys, and gyms.

Pioneer Steel lifted the autos on top of the structure. Their combined 20,000-pound weight was one-third of the structure’s allowable load. There was no sign of damage from the 33 percent measured deflection in the structure when the autos were removed.

Bill Noland’s Construction Horse sense

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I

t wasn’t always in the cards that veteran Arizona contractor Bill Noland would enter the construction business.

Noland grew up more familiar with cattle then concrete and had a lot of experience with fast horses at the Hay Flat Ranch on the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains between the communities of San Simon and Portal in extreme southeastern Arizona.

“Along Noland Road, my family had a nice cattle spread that had five windmills to water the livestock,” Noland says. “My father, William V. Noland, was into race horses and ran them around Arizona and New Mexico including at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Rillito Downs in Tucson, at Prescott Downs and at county fairs. He was the leading trainer one year in both Prescott and Tucson.”

But life on the Hay Flat Ranch provided plenty of opportunities to learn about construction too. “We did contract work to build water retention dikes for the Soil Conservation Service along the San Simon River,” Noland says.

That led Noland to his first construction job building homes at Sunsites located south of the Willcox Playa in Cochise County. “The Ted Timen Company in Tucson built this development that featured a nine-hole golf course and clubhouse,” Noland recalls. He later moved around Arizona looking for work in his truck, first heading to the Interstate 10 Brenda cutoff that the Tanner Brothers had bid on. When he couldn’t get much work, he went union and helped build a fourstory barracks at Fort Huachuca.

Noland then relocated to Queen Creek southeast of the Valley. One of his jobs was to put together house kits the Bureau of Indian Affairs had supplied to the Salt River-Pima-Maricopa Indian community.

He later commuted to Globe where he helped the Bechtel Corporation install a powerhouse in 1970-71, and worked for Fisher Contracting building the U.S. Highway 60 bridge over Pinto Creek. One of the coldest jobs, he recalls, was working at the renovation of the Snowflake Pulp Mill in northern Arizona.

In 1972 he started an 11-year career working for M.M. Sundt Construction, moving around to different projects in a 12-by-65-foot trailer. Many of his jobs Left: Noland working on a bridge project for M.M. Sundt. www.Arizcc.com

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were working along Interstate 40 in northern Arizona, including bypasses around Holbrook, Joseph City, Fort Rock, and Kingman. Noland also worked in Lake Havasu City constructing bridges along U.S. Highway 95.

“The first two of my four kids got most of the moving around in the trailer,” Noland says when asked about the impact of his nomadic construction life on his family. “They attended three schools in one year but were always on the honor roll. The kids liked to travel; it was one big adventure for them.”

In 1983, Noland moved to Tucson and worked for Sundt doing concrete work at Ventana Canyon and La Paloma resorts, and redoing the intersection at Campbell and River roads. He also worked on overpasses in the Valley such as along Interstate 17 near Metro Center.

One of the construction tales Noland enjoys recounting is his fun interaction with the legendary Bill Heeter. Working on Interstate 10 between Jackrabbit and Dysart roads in the West Valley, Noland suspected he wasn’t receiving his full concrete yield and pulled over one of Heeter’s trucks to weigh him before and after. The tally came up a bit short. Heeter found out about it and drove out to the site asking what the heck I was doing? “Your yield wasn’t quite right!” I responded.

Heeter drove away and we never had a problem with yields after that.

Noland then became a structural superintendent for F-N-F Construction with Bruce Forth and Terry Neff, a firm that spawned out of M.M. Sundt Construction.

The firm built the Reardon Bridge, the first overpass out of Williams heading towards Flagstaff. They did the Golden Ranch Bridge across the Canyon del Oro Wash near Catalina to provide an all-weather access to many homes. Noland also worked on a coal-fired power plant in Pruitt, New Mexico, just east of the Continental Divide, and did some concrete construction at the aircraft boneyard at Davis Monthan Air Force Base.

In the early 1990’s Noland, along with two other partners, started C. L. Ridgeway Construction Company. They built concrete arches in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado.

Because of their aesthetic appeal, they Left: Bridge work with M.M. Sundt, 1980s.

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built them for several golf courses and subdivisions in Las Vegas and Palm Springs, California.

Noland continued working building arches in Tucson with a small construction firm, Dimension 318, managed by him and his wife, Nancy. “Bill and Nancy are a wonderful couple and were a great Alliance of Construction Trade (ACT) member,” President Jim Kuliesh, of the Alliance of Construction Trades, says.

“They participated in all our events and sent their employees to our OSHA seminars and supported us in all of our legislative activities.”

On the Noland’s last project, however, they worked hard for months and didn’t get paid, which put them out of business.

“Of course, ACT became involved trying to get the Nolands and the other subcontractors compensated for the

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project, Kuliesh says. “Pima County cancelled the general contractor’s contract, but that didn’t help the subcontractors get paid, so now the lawsuits are going through the courts.”

“For our efforts, the general contractor sued ACT and me personally for $4 million each, which was settled after a year,” Kuliesh continues. “This experience, my first in 50 years, will not stop ACT from doing everything we can to help subcontractors and material/equipment suppliers from getting paid on time for quality work that has been accepted.”

When asked what he will do in his retirement, Noland says he’s moving to Safford to be near his children and enjoy

the rural life raising cattle and restoring old tractors. “This country boy won’t miss all the traffic…and I helped create a lot of that traffic,” he says with a laugh.

“My ACT members and I wish Bill and Nancy all the best and happiness in the future,” Kuliesh says.

“And, of course, for them and all the subcontractors to win their lawsuits.”

One of the coldest jobs was working at the renovation of the Snowflake Pulp Mill in northern Arizona.

Top left: Hay Flat Ranch area, southeast Arizona.

Top right: Bill Noland (olive-green shirt) with Dimension 318, 2013.

Bottom left: Ashton Co. Structural Engineer Bill Noland (right), 1985.

Bottom middle: Dimension 318 in Pima County, 2013.

Bottom right: Bill Noland (left), 2013.

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The City of Phoenix offered free land, a water supply, and the promise never to annex the site, Hughes said. The company temporarily occupied a building near the State Fairgrounds during construction of its plant, located in undeveloped desert in what is now north Phoenix. The remote location meant employees commuted to work on gravel roads while executives often flew into Deer Valley Airport and taxied down a paved road right to the plant’s front door.

“I worked second shift a lot,” said Karen Thomas, who started working for Sperry Phoenix as an assembly trainee in 1967. “You’d hear the coyotes howling at night, it was so far out there.”

Former Sperry manager Jim Hurst stumbled upon the plant in the mid-1950s with his uncle rock hounding in the desert.

Hurst, a native of Michigan who had

Image courtesy of Karen Thomas

“R

eady for the big jump? Land where you can ‘sink roots’ professionally and in a unique delightful city.”

This recruitment ad from the Tucson Daily Citizen, and others like it, were placed in newspapers across the country in 1965 by a company hoping to attract talent to its remote desert location in Phoenix. The company was Sperry Phoenix, the aeronautical division of New York-based Sperry Corporation. Its flight control systems manufacturing plant opened at Deer Valley Road and 19th Avenue in the 1950s.

A series of labor strikes prompted Sperry Phoenix to move to a ‘Right to Work’ state, according to Sperry Retirees Club board member Keith Hughes. Hughes received this insight from Dick Frische, son of former company president Carl Frische.

worked as a radio and radar technician in the Air Force, had stopped to visit his uncle while traveling to California in search of work.

Spring 2016

Electronic Powerhouse:

Images courtesy of Arizona Contractor & Community

The Sperry Phoenix Story Katie Mayer

“While we were out there, my mother’s brother said ‘Hey, that’s an electronics place, why don’t you put in an application?” Hurst recalled. “Three days later, they sent me a telegraph and said ‘Come to work.’”

Sperry Phoenix expanded rapidly after it developed the first aircraft flight control system for use on all types of planes, according to a 1959 Tucson Daily Citizen article.

There were about 200 employees working for Sperry Phoenix when Hurst started as a flight controls tester, along Top left: Sperry Phoenix featuring Superlite block, 1959.

Top right: T.G.K. Contracting building Deer Valley Sperry Phoenix, 1958.

Left: Karen Thomas, early 1990s.

Left middle: Engineers at Sperry Phoenix, 1960. www.Arizcc.com

with the other men. Women at the plant were all inspectors on the line. “When the girls got behind out there, we would go out and start inspecting until we were all caught up and could test,” he said.

Thomas had no electronics knowledge when she was hired. The company trained her for three months before deciding to make her permanent. “I tried to learn and study and be a good employee,” Thomas said. Her starting wage was $1.70 per hour. “People worked hard on the line,” Thomas said, “but I have to admit, we also had a sense of humor.”

The men and women often played pranks on each other while working. In boardroom meetings, the men filled the room with smoke so thick, you could hardly see. Finding anything to do outside of the office was a challenge, since the area was so remote, but the staff found ways to

have fun. There are stories of hunting small game and taking a break to watch the Blue Angels perform.

“It was so oriented toward the employees that Sperry actually put a credit union in the plant and manned it,” Hurst said. “You could cash your checks and do your banking work.” He added, "Although we had fun, we were individually liable for everything we did. We were accountable."

Thomas said efficiency was important on the line, but there was always room for fun -- and the fun they had never got anyone fired. Even management was warm and friendly.

Hurst said he remembers company president Robert “Bob” Roe greeting employees for work in the morning. “He’d be out there from time-to-time just shaking hands,” Hurst said. “He knew everybody’s name.”

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better. "After Honeywell took over, things slowly changed over the years...it was almost cutthroat and there was no loyalty from the people or Honeywell."

Today, many of the former Sperry and Honeywell employees remain connected through the Sperry Retirees Club, a more than 400-strong group which meets regularly and holds an annual Christmas dance. They share memories of the old days and stay connected to a company that, for many, offered a career spanning decades.

For Hurst, that career took him around the world. He called his wife with the first handheld satellite phone in Cape Town, South Africa, avoided guerrilla rebels in Brazil, and had many adventures while overseeing airplane certifications.

Thomas retired in 2007 after 40 years with the company and said she is glad she made the leap to work for Sperry. "I didn't go there because of Sperry or the name," Thomas said. "I just wanted a good permanent job. Once I got in there and saw everything they were doing, I was amazed."

And just as the recruitment old ads promised: "Most people don't make the big jump often, do it wisely, and you're set for years to come.

Image courtesy of Arizona Contractor & Community

Roe was one of the first civilians in the country to fly jet aircraft and helicopters, and he also constructed airplanes at home.

“Everybody thought it was strange because people would go over there and for some reason there would be an airplane tail in the living room,” Hurst said with a chuckle.

By the 1960s and 70s, commercial aviation boomed with the introduction of the jet engine. In 1965, the company was among one of six Phoenix-based firms who supplied equipment for the two-man Gemini space trip. The following year, the company changed its name to Sperry Flight Systems. And in 1967, Sperry was awarded a more than $1 million contract by the U.S. Army for 692 indicators for radio magnetic compasses.

Sperry continued its explosive growth and expanded to three locations: Business Regional and General Aviation was moved to Bell Road, Space and Satellite Systems moved to Union Hills Drive, and Defense moved to Albuquerque. Sperry’s original plant expanded, and the adjacent area was developed.

But the company’s real notoriety came as the result of its creation of automatic flight controls for aircraft and microwave guidance systems for drone aircraft. Even as military contracts began

to dry up, the company stayed productive serving the commercial aircraft industry.

And naturally, they caught the attention of corporations hoping to acquire them.

In 1986, Honeywell acquired Sperry Aerospace Group for more than $1 billion and blended one of its divisions with the Sperry commercial flight systems operations in Phoenix. Sperry Defense Products Group was sold to Loral and the group later became part of Lockheed Martin.

"During that time I had a boss who insisted people go to school, so in 1997 I got my bachelor's degree and became the manager over the FAA liaisons," Thomas said. "That's one thing I have got to give Honeywell a lot of credit for they pushed for people to get their education and they paid for it."

The new ownership also ushered in a fresh era. The company implemented Six Sigma process improvement, promoted women to management, and completely changed the work culture. For some, the change was welcomed; for others it came with growing pains. "It was mixed emotions," Thomas said. "It took adjustment, but a lot of us adjusted and we liked it."

Hurst said the company culture continued to change, and not for the

Top: Sperry's work included Boeing 747s.

Right: U.S. Army CH-21 Shawnee, nicknamed the “Flying Banana,” at Sperry Phoenix, early 1960s.

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Hagen’s Highlights: U.S. 60 Through the Salt River Canyon

Image courtesy of Arizona Contractor & Community

Elaine Hagen McBride

O

ne of Arizona’s most picturesque drives is the steep and twisting road through the Salt River Canyon, located about 40 miles north of Globe. Sometimes called the mini-Grand Canyon, the 2,000-foot-deep gorge was carved by the Salt River, which eroded the landscape over millions of years.

U.S. Highway 60, also known as the Globe-Show Low Highway, descends along steep switchbacks from near Seneca Lake on the San Carlos Apache tribal lands to the Salt River at the bottom of the canyon.

The Salt River Canyon Bridge, Arizona’s first girder-ribbed steel-arch bridge, was built by Lee Moor Contracting Company in 1934. The bridge is now used for pedestrian traffic, having been replaced in 1994.

The road gains elevation along yet more sharp switchbacks until exiting the Salt River Canyon and eventually entering Show Low. From rim to rim, it’s a nine mile drive.

In the late 1950s, three construction companies were improving U.S. Highway

60. The work resulted in a new 40-footwide highway, much of it new alignment from the crossing of the Salt River, southwesterly for 17.7 miles. The firms working on the project included, starting at the river and working southwest, Hagen Construction, Isbell Construction, and Flickinger Brothers.

Memories of construction work along the roadway in the late 1950s are from my father, Hal Hagen, son of Globe contractor Harry Hagen. Hal passed away last year at age 87.

“Dad put me on the Letourneau FU model carryall scraper on the Salt River Canyon job in 1958,” recalls Hal Hagen. “I ran the scraper and Dad directed traffic.

The FU was a double-bucket cable scraper towed by a Caterpillar D9 dozer. The inner bucket would telescope up and load first.

When it got full, it moved back and the front scraper would load, then you would let the apron down and go over to the fill area to dump. Most of the time it was in second gear. That was fast enough to pull the carryall. When I got ready to cross traffic Dad just stopped the vehicles. I would go over and dump, turn around and go back. Even if only for one day, this opportunity extended by my father to let me run the equipment stayed with me my entire career.”

“Dad had traded with another Arizona contractor, Guy Reed, for a Sterling diesel,

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Image courtesy of author

Top: Barney Williams working in the Salt River Canyon, 1959.

Right: Traffic passes Hagen's Cat D-9 Dozer and FU scraper in the Salt River Canyon, 1958.

Opposite page: Salt River Canyon after highway improvements, 1964.

Spring 2016

“In about a ¼ mile, there was a hairpin turn at the bottom of Salt River Canyon. At the far end of that turn, a pilot road came in, built years earlier when that was the end of the road. Co-worker Sam Smith was watching as Dad came down the hill. Dad swung that turn with the truck, spotted that road and went about halfway up the pilot road before he stopped. He parked the truck, got out, left it, and went on down about his business.”

“The Hagen Company also worked on the southern descent of the road into Salt River Canyon

in 1964,” Hal Hagen recalls. “During this job, there was a lot of traffic coming through especially from out of state. Many of these drivers were afraid to drive the steep canyon. So, Dad put together a ‘special traffic crew’ to drive the fearful drivers and their cars all the way through the canyon. Once the traffic crew went through the canyon one way, they’d drive someone else’s vehicle back the other way.”

Image courtesy of author

200 horsepower truck,” Hal Hagen says.

“One day, the truck was parked at the watering station near their trailer on Salt River. Dad had to ‘get to working,’ so he went out, jumped in the Sterling, started it up, and began moving down the hill. One small matter: he did not know he was supposed to start downshifting as soon as he got the engine running. The truck started to pick up speed going down the Globe end of the hill. Dad hit the brake and it ran to the floor. Then he just concentrated on that steering wheel and getting down the hill.”

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Arizona contractor & Community

Courageous Constructors The Knochenhauers know construction: You should know them

Katie Mayer

T

hey built some of Arizona’s most prominent government buildings and – in a way – also built one of the state’s most prominent builders.

While their once eminent name has faded into historic records now tucked away in libraries, their craftsmanship and legacy remain visible throughout our state in the form of some of Arizona’s most important structures.

Their family name was Knochenhauer and their firm was T.G.K. Construction Company. Incorporated in New York City in 1946 by Theodore “Ted” G. Knochenhauer, the company moved to Arizona in the early 1950s, according to corporate records.

T.G.K. Construction Company built everything from the Memorial Union and Charles Trumbull Hayden Library at Arizona State University to remodels of the Arizona State House of Representatives and Senate buildings. They constructed the Motorola building at 50th Street and McDowell Road, the Sperry Phoenix plant, and the First Federal Savings building. The firm also built the Squaw Peak Water Treatment plant to deliver water to Phoenix municipal customers, according to Douglas Kupel’s book Fuel for Growth: Water & Arizona’s Urban Environment.

“There were only about five to seven big construction companies in Arizona at the time,” said Lynne Martin, Ted Knochenhauer’s niece and a former secretary at T.G.K. Construction Company.

“These were the local guys who were here doing the heavy lifting for the community.”

While it was Ted Knochenhauer who founded the company, his brother and Lynne’s father, Lloyd Knochenhauer, is the name many remember today. As Ted’s younger brother, Lloyd started with the company as a superintendent and ultimately was promoted to vice president.

His sons Robert “Bob” Knochenhauer and Lloyd “Allen” Knochenhauer Jr. also worked for the firm and rose through the ranks.

“Construction was something you grew up in,” Lynne said. “Almost the whole family went into construction.”

Left: Lloyd Knochenhauer on the right, 1940s.

Top right: Ted and Lloyd Knochenhauer.

Right: Rudy Alden (brother of Ted and Lloyd), Helen & George Ahrvide, and Ted at T.G.K. party, 1950s.

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president of the company for years, he didn’t own any equity.

Fear mounted that the company would collapse, since all of its bonding capacity was tied to Ted, Dennis said.

However, with a track record of success, a great work culture, and wide respect among industry peers, finding a buyer for T.G.K. Construction Company didn’t take long. “I remember Lloyd came

Images courtesy of the Knochenhauer family

“It was family,” added Penny Knochenhauer, whose late husband is Bob Knochenhauer.

And that family culture was something the Knochenhauers remember and treasure.

Dennis Martin, who married Lynne and worked for T.G.K. Construction Company as a superintendent, said many work days ended with the guys all sticking around to play poker. “There was camaraderie at T.G.K.,” Dennis said. “Some guys had horses, others would go boating.”

Penny recalls the company giving out turkeys at Thanksgiving and gifting the women a piece of jewelry or bottle of perfume around the holidays. “They took care of you,” she said.

As a union company, T.G.K. Construction Company also completed a lot of its work in-house, rather than subcontracting it out. Carpenters, laborers, and cement finishers were all employed by the company, Dennis said.

By the 1970s, T.G.K. Construction had made a positive impact on the Valley as much as it had on the employees who worked there. From hospitals to schools to libraries and even a terminal building at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, the company’s work resulted in much of our state’s critical infrastructure.

But in September of 1978 tragedy struck.

Company founder Ted Knochenhauer died in a car crash. And although Ted’s brother Lloyd had been vice

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out and Jack Frost, who was general superintendent, and they said ‘McCarthy is going to buy the company,’” Dennis said.

Although founded in 1864, McCarthy didn’t have a presence in Arizona and the 1979 acquisition offered the company the opportunity to expand its footprint westward and take on a well-respected name in Arizona. In fact, for a time, McCarthy retained the T.G.K. Construction Company name as part of its own.

"McCarthy's first project in Arizona was the large addition at St. Joseph's Hospital in 1978, where we had the opportunity to work with T.G.K.," said Bo Calbert, president of McCarthy Building Companies Southwest. "Mike McCarthy immediately recognized the opportunity that existed in Arizona for growth." He added, "As we got to know T.G.K., particularly their self-perform operations and expertise, we proceeded with a strategic alliance that was beneficial for both of us, and the rest is history."

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Images courtesy of the Knochenhauer family

was very detail-oriented and had an awareness of others,” she said.

Penny credits much of Bob’s leadership style to his father, Lloyd. “Lloyd was such an impressive man and he knew his staff well,” she said. “When you were around him, you knew he was important.”

Dennis added, “Lloyd taught Bob to be very service-oriented…and Bob carried that torch.”

Lloyd worked for a few years after the McCarthy acquisition and then retired. He died in September 2002.

Today, the only Knochenhauer blood relative still working for McCarthy is David Knochenhauer, grandson of Lloyd. Bob’s daughter Kim Knochenhauer worked at McCarthy with her father, but left to raise her children.

Still, most of the family remains in construction. In fact, Dennis worked for

nearly all of the big players in Arizona, such as Sundt Construction, Mardian Construction Co., D.L. Withers Construction and McCarthy among others, before retiring. And the family also remains close. They all gathered in Prescott for Thanksgiving, Penny said. Lynne and Bob's brother Lloyd "Allen" Knochenhauer Jr. is an estimator in the construction industry and lives in California with his wife Sara.

Lynne said she will always be proud of her family’s legacy and how their work shaped the Valley and state.

“We’ll be downtown and Dennis will say ‘T.G.K. worked on that,’ Lynne said.

“There’s so much history and there is a lot of pride.”

“T.G.K. was always the heroes,” Dennis added, “I never thought they got the recognition they deserved.”

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Dennis credits much of T.G.K.'s success with the company's strong relationships in the subcontractor community. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to remain competitive," he said.

Dennis stayed on for a time with McCarthy and so did Bob Knochenhauer, who eventually retired from McCarthy in 2012 as senior vice president of the water services team. He died November 14, 2013, but his passion for the job and the mark he left on both T.G.K. Construction Company and McCarthy lives on.

“When I was a foreman, Bob had such a positive attitude about everything,” Dennis said. “Everybody knew if anyone would take over the company it would be Bob.” Bob started as a carpenter when he was just 16 and then after serving in the U.S. Army, he went to work for T.G.K. Construction Company in 1972, said his wife Penny. Much like his father Lloyd, Bob was not only well-liked, but well-respected.

“There was a general fear that if Lloyd had to come out to the job because there was a problem, it would not be good,” Dennis recalled.

“And that’s how Bob was as well,” Penny added. “Oftentimes, Bob would come out to the job and people would get nervous because he would ask questions, but he really already knew the answers. He Top, left to right: Penny and Bob Knochenhauer, 2013.

Allen and Sarah Knochenhauer, 2015.

Dennis Martin and Lynne (Knochenhauer) Martin, who both worked for T.G.K. Construction Company, 2014.

Right: Lloyd Knochenhauer at left, during construction of the Phoenix Library, 1951.

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Prime Pole Position: DJ Car Camps over Phoenix Douglas Towne

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veryone loves getting a deal – and something free is even better. But few would go through what Phoenix disc jockey “Lonesome Long John” Roller did in an attempt to win a new car in 1959.

Roller’s exploit, which captured the public’s attention for seven months, was one of the craziest publicity stunts to ever take place in Arizona.

Not that there weren’t plenty of zany activities afoot at the time. After the Guinness Book of World Records was first published in 1955, people went wild trying to get their names etched into the bestselling book. Among its many categories, feats of endurance such as flagpole sitting caught the nation’s fancy. The record stood at an intimidating 211 days set by a girl in Indianapolis, when Roller attempted to break it.

Roller stepped into his new home, a Ford Skyliner rigged with broadcasting

equipment on Saturday, November 15, 1958. Emblazoned on the car were “Read Mullan Ford” and “1480 KHAT.” As the disc jockey waved to spectators, an automotive lift raised the vehicle 40-feet high over the dealership’s used car lot at Third and Van Buren streets in downtown Phoenix.

“Lonesome Long John Now in Orbit” was the message on the business’s marquee. Optimistically, it added, “New World’s Record.”

“An El Paso radio station had done a similar promotion that produced impressive ratings,” 89-year-old Ray Odom, the former owner of KHAT, recalls.

“John was up for the challenge so we presented the proposal to Read Mullan, who thought it was a great idea.”

Roller was aiming for more than publicity. If the disc jockey broke the flagpole-sitting record, he would also win the Ford. In return, Mullan’s dealership

Then there was the big, unspoken question about what follows eating.

received immense attention as Lonesome Long John’s marathon became an overnight sensation.

“People would hear John on the radio and drive 50 miles or more to come by to see him,” Odom recalls. “They did really good business at the dealership.”

“Dad used to drive us by there every few weeks for cheap entertainment,” Phoenix native Dave Helton says. “I was only six at the time but I recall always waving at him.”

“I remember my Dad taking us each week after church to see him,” Phoenix native Becky Mitchell, recalls.

The disc jockey was spotlighted in the dealership’s advertising campaign. An ad in the Arizona Republic featured a prominent photo of Roller aloft and said, “Check Lonesome Long John every day for those Read Mullan Lonesome Long John specials.”

“I remember that happening in 195859, and I thought he [Roller] was nuts,” Norlene Weaver, a former health care professional, recalls. “But my family did buy a car from Read Mullan Ford. We had it for years.”

To keep attention on Roller’s quest, a $100 prize was offered to the first person who could prove that Roller came down from the Ford before the record was broken.

While the dealership was enjoying enviable publicity, Roller was settling in for his stay. The dual hardtop/convertible Ford was the perfect car for the task, though it quickly became a high-mileage vehicle Left: Roller broadcasting from the Ford.

Right: Roller posing with guitar.

Top: Roller's single, "Lonesome John’s Flagpole Rock."

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Roller’s signature tune can be heard online: youtube.com/watch?v=4U zmIzCLbWY

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Al Casey being hoisted up to record with Roller.

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without ever leaving the dealership. Roller brought along a “portable TV, a rockgrinding machine, a mattress, 17 blankets, heater, tape recorder, PA system, amplifier, record player, telephone, guitar, hot plate, thermos jug, three pairs of long johns, and a cat,” noted a press release.

The logistics of living aloft in the vehicle proved challenging. To stay fresh, Roller initially took a bath three times a week in a child’s plastic play pool positioned in the back seat. When the pool proved more bother than it was worth, he used a bucket. Roller also did his own wash, which dried on an improvised clothes line for all downtown to see.

Three times a day, Roller’s meals were delivered on a tray via a rope and pulley system attached to the Ford’s rear bumper.

“John’s constitution is strong because he neither drinks nor smokes and he is a strong believer in vitamins, which he takes every day,” according to KHAT. Then there was the big, unspoken question about what follows eating.

“I was a second grader at Saint Mary’s Elementary School; our playground was the church parking lot adjacent to that flagpole,” recalls John Driscoll, who had a career in radio. “We were there in the playground and watched them haul up food, and lower buckets of who knows what.”

And it was no vacation for Roller either. The Ford had been rigged so that Lonesome Long John could broadcast on KHAT, a country station. “He came on every hour for about five minutes,” Odom says. “He’d play guitar, sing a song, and talk about the weather up there. People would tune in just to hear his updates.”

Odom was famous for hosting Arizona Hayride shows at Phoenix’s Madison Square Garden, which featured local musical luminaries such as Duane Eddy, Lee Hazelwood, and Al Casey. The latter would become a top studio musician in Los Angeles working with Frank Sinatra, the Fifth Dimension, and the Beach Boys on their legendary Pet Sounds album.

Casey would first, however, make music with Roller. The KHAT radio personality billed himself as the “Arkansas Traveler” and wanted musical stardom himself. While perched in his Ford, Roller wrote a few tunes and convinced Casey and his wife, Corky, to come up to his loft and record them. The trio performed in the

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Ford, while the sound engineer was on the ground with the tape recorder.

“Al Casey told me about the frightening trip up to Roller’s car on a small wooden chair, attached to a pulley by a rope,” John Dixon, a local music historian, says. “The rope was fastened to the bumper of a car on the ground that would move and raise the passenger to the rear

of Roller’s car. Then, they crawled into the car through the open trunk.”

The trio recorded two tunes, “Long John’s Flagpole Rock” and “Hey Mama,” to which the bass and drums were later overdubbed. Roller released the songs on the Flagpole Record label. Roller’s signature tune can be heard online: youtube.com/watch?v=4UzmIzCLbWY

By early March, Roller received some more unexpected company. His cat, George, gave birth to four kittens and was renamed Georgette.

Seeking another type of companionship, Roller made a request of Odom. “He asked me to get a girl to go up there one night,” Odom, says with a laugh.

“When I declined, John responded by

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saying, ‘Heck, I don’t know if I would have done this if I had known those were the rules.’”

Finally, on June 14, 1959, Roller triumphantly descended from the Skyliner in a boatswain’s chair after being aloft for 211 days and 22 hours.

He beat the previous record by 13 hours.

“I feel just like a man who’s been through a war,” Roller told the Arizona Republic. “It’s over and I don't especially want to go through it again. I never worked so hard in my whole life as while I was up there. There was something to do all the time."

Roller planned a month’s vacation in his home state of Arkansas afterwards. Little is known of the disc jockey’s life after his world record performance, but his feat is remembered fondly by all who witnessed it. Well, almost all.

“I recall an old car salesman saying, ‘It wasn’t all good,” Mike Mullan, Read

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Mullan’s grandson, says. “’If you were in charge of the honey bucket, it wasn’t much good at all.’”

Top: Roller above Read Mullen Used Cars in downtown Phoenix.

Across: Lonesome Long John posing with guitar.

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Architect’s Perspective: Reginald G. Sydnor, AIA: Functionalism Doug Sydnor, FAIA Doug_sydnor@gensler.com

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married fellow student Dorothy Mae Webb of Wichita, Kansas, a music major.

U.S. Civil Services recruited him to Bremerton, Washington where he drafted naval architecture. Soon thereafter, he relocated within the state to Yakima, and worked for two firms until 1955. Robert Sexton, FAIA, a University of Michigan classmate, then encouraged my parents to move to Phoenix where he joined Edward L. Varney Associates, A.I.A. as a Project Manager.

Reginald became an Associate in 1960, and a Partner in 1965 when the firm name changed to Varney Sexton Sydnor Architects, A.I.A. He remained there for 25 years until forming Sydnor Architects, P.C. in 1980, which was active until 1991. He later joined McLellan & Copenhagen Architects and Planners, Inc. of Cupertino, California until his retirement in 1994.

During Reginald’s career, in which he specialized in institutional architecture, his work evolved toward a philosophy he might have described as functionalism: an

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rizona Contractor + Community magazine asked if I would feature Reginald G. Sydnor, AIA, an architect who practiced exclusively in Arizona for more than 35 years starting in the mid 1950’s. And yes, he is my father.

Reginald thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful career creating significant architecture for the varied landscapes across Arizona. Phoenix was a very optimistic place, where anything was possible when he arrived in 1955. The state was rapidly growing and new housing, schools, and manufacturing, commercial, and institutional facilities were needed.

Before my father flourished helping to shape Arizona, his path took him many places across the country.

Born in Bellpoint, West Virginia in 1928, Reginald grew up in nearby Huntington where he attended Marshall College of Liberal Arts from 1946-48. He then transferred to the University of Michigan, where he received a Bachelor of Architecture in 1952. That same year he

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approach that simply wanted the architecture to work in all respects. This would include floor plan flexibility, exterior durability, and building systems integration.

The following three representative projects of Reginald’s touch on these priorities.

Motorola came to the Phoenix area in the late 1940’s and constructed a series of manufacturing plants. Varney Associates had designed the 52nd Street and McDowell Road plant. Soon afterwards, Reginald designed the Hayden and McDowell roads plant in Scottsdale. This 173,000 square-foot, two-story plant accommodated 3,500 employees.

Left: Sexton, Varney, & Sydnor (l-r), 1970s.

Top: Tilt-panel construction on the Motorola Plant at Hayden & McDowell Road, 1967.

Top right: Maricopa County Complex, Varney Sexton Sydnor, mid-1970s.

Right: ASU's Hiram Bradford Farmer Education building.

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reduce the solar heat gain, while selfshading the wall with concrete panels.

ASU has maintained this building impeccably, which reflects the pride they have for this very functional structure. The project received a 2010 American Institute of Architects - Arizona 25 Year Award in its 50th anniversary year.

Phoenix’s St. Luke’s Hospital Medical Center had a major 202,000 square-foot expansion from 1965-69. The project scope included a new nine-story tower that accommodated a lobby, administrative offices, surgery, radiology, emergency, 600 nursing beds, and a ninth-floor shell for future physician offices, which did occur.

All nursing rooms were provided fullheight windows and exterior balconies.

Interiors utilized demountable partitions for easy reconfiguration and, for the first time in an Arizona hospital, carpet was installed for the acoustical and aesthetic benefits. The exterior used buff-colored brick walls, precast concrete panels, concrete structural components, and

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Image courtesy of author

Functionality was exploited with a flexible and adaptable floor plan, which was based upon a repetitive planning module. The structure was engineered to expand horizontally, which occurred on multiple occasions. Street elevation featured a vertical tower that not only identified Motorola, but was multifunctional as a testing station for antennae that the company actually manufactured in this plant.

Another major project was ASU’s Hiram Bradford Farmer Education Building in Tempe, constructed in 1960. The 47,000 square feet, four-story structure has a courtyard plan, ringed by classrooms and faculty offices, which focuses on a centralized atrium. The atrium entries on all sides encourage natural breezes through the space convectively, which is a very effective passive cooling strategy. The building envelope minimizes glazing to

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Images courtesy of author

Working with my father from 1977-89 taught me many lessons about professional and civic responsibilities. As an architect, Reginald was a superb draftsman and his original drawings were works of art. He knew how to build, how to document it, and do it with craft and care. He also mentored me through capturing an appropriate scale and good sound proportions in architecture. Civic responsibilities, where we leave our community better than we found it, were ingrained, and have been practiced by me since then.

Reginald went through life with the utmost integrity, and was as hardworking, honest, and trustworthy as anyone I have ever met. At the same time, he had very

strong beliefs and convictions about many subjects. This led him to self-publish a booklet, What I Think, in 2001. He left a great architectural legacy in Arizona and, maybe more importantly, many of life’s lessons for his children, grandchildren, and his community.

"Reginald went through life with the utmost integrity, and was as hardworking, honest, and trustworthy as anyone I have ever met."

Reginald G. Sydnor, AIA, passed away on June 13, 2004 at the age of 75.

Opposite page: St. Luke’s Hospital addition, early 1970s. Inset: St. Luke’s Hospital Expansion, 1970s.

Top: ASU Hiram Bradford Farmer Education building.

Bottom left: Arizona Bank rendering, Varney Sexton Sydnor Architects, A.I.A., 1967.

Bottom right: Arizona Bank in Mesa next to the Waldorf Café, late 1960s.

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aluminum window framing for a durable, long-lasting approach.

Other projects Reginald worked on include the Arizona Heart Institute, ASU Life Sciences Addition, Baptist Hospital of Phoenix, Bisbee High School, Cochise Community Junior College, Dunn Edwards store, Glendale Community College, John C. Lincoln Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, and Yuma Regional Medical Center to name a few. These works, among many others, are detailed in my 2011 book, Plugger: The Architecture of Reginald Sydnor.

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Lloyd Knochenhauer (center) examining blueprints for the Phoenix Public Library at Central Ave. and McDowell Rd., 1951.

Construction of the new Phoenix Public Library, 1951.

Digging through the Archives T.G.K. Construction William Horner

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few years back, Duke Francis with C&F Equipment Company gave me a tip on an important general contractor, T.G.K., named for Ted G. Knochenhauer.

“We did a ton of work for Ted Knochenhauer over the years and my father became good friends with him,” Francis recalls. “We moved dirt for T.G.K. at East High School next to the old Cudahy meatpacking plant in east Phoenix, at the Mayer Central Building, and at Scottsdale Galleria. The Scottsdale work was actually done for McCarthy, which purchased T.G.K. in the late 1970s.”

T.G.K. had a long list of projects in Arizona between the 1940s through the mid-1980s, including buildings for government, university, banks, and industry (see related article on page 42).

One major contract was for the Phoenix Civic Center at the northeast

Construction of Motorola plant, 1959.

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corner of Central Avenue and McDowell Road, which opened in August 1952. Master plans for the project were prepared by architect Alden Dow of Midland Michigan, son of the founder of Dow Chemical Company.

Local architects Lescher & Mahoney, with H.H.

Phoenix mid-town skyline along Central Avenue with the Mayer Central Building and the taller Mayer Central Plaza on the left, 1967.

Green as associate, were appointed project architects. The complex included a public library, art institute, little theater, and administration facilities.

Another important project was Motorola’s third Phoenix plant, located on the southeast corner of McDowell and Hayden roads. Constructed by T.G.K. in 1957, the $3 million plant was the first structure in Arizona to use prestressed concrete girders and double tees made by the Prestressed Division of Superior Sand & Gravel Company, Phoenix.

Architectural plans were designed by

T.G.K. construction of the Phoenix Police Department building at Sixth Avenue and Washington Street, 1974.

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Construction of the Mountain States Telephone building across from the Paramount (Orpheum) Theater, 1961.

Edward L. Varney & Associates.

T.G.K. then undertook to build the city’s tallest building, the Mayer Central Plaza at 3003 North Central Avenue across from Park Central Mall. The land was owned by the Mayer Development Company, which had the James Stewart Company build the adjacent Mayer Central Building at 3033 North Central. The penthouse of this building later became famous as the home of the Playboy Club.

Construction started on the Mayer Central Plaza in 1962, with the first seven of 26 floors completed in the fall of 1963.

When T.G.K. finished construction in 1965, it became the tallest building in Phoenix.

It held this title until the Henry C. Beck Company completed the First National Bank Plaza, now Wells Fargo, at First Avenue and Washington Street in 1971.

Both Mayer buildings have a similar "arched roof" style.

Another major building T.G.K. worked on was the Mesa office of Valley National Bank, located at MacDonald Drive and Main Street. The bank had a steel-frame structure with steel decking, aluminum framing, and porcelain curtain walls

C&F Equipment Company heavy transport truck on the East High School project for T.G.K., 1963.

containing solar grey glass on the south and west sides. When finished in 1960, the five-story bank became Mesa’s tallest building. Architects Weaver & Drover designed the building which was built for $1.2 million. Today, the building has had a makeover and is called One MacDonald Center.

In addition to these projects, T.G.K. worked on numerous others including the men’s dormitory at ASU in Tempe (1956), the Luhrs five-story parking garage at First Avenue and Madison Street (1957), the Sperry Plant in Deer Valley (1957), the Mesa Public Library (1959), Mountain States Telephone Building at Second Avenue and Adams Street in Phoenix (1966), Sky Chef Catering Kitchen at 2750 West McDowell Road (1969), and the addition to Alhambra High School at 39th Avenue and Camelback Road (1971).

McCarthy Western, now McCarthy Building Companies, acquired T.G.K. Construction in 1979. Some T.G.K. employees continued to work with McCarthy, finishing their construction careers.

Images courtesy of author

C&F Equipment Company moving dirt at East High School for T.G.K., 1963.

Arizona Sand & Rock Co. pouring curb and gutters at the Phoenix Public Library for T.G.K., 1952. www.Arizcc.com

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Spring 2016

1/14/2016 Litchfield and Cactus Roadway Improvements $2,084,696 J Banicki 2/5/2016 Paseo Vista Recreation Drainage Area $1,297,578 Redpoint 2/5/2016 Lake Mary Road $802,805 Vastco 2/5/2016 City of Glendale $557,940 Combs 2/2/2016 (CMAR) Pavement Preservation 2018 $8,000,000 C&E Paving Grading 1/27/2016 Aeration Basin & Odor Control Improvements – Corgett WRF $1,267,677 Hunter 1/26/2016 Stone Avenue - Speedway Blvd Drachman Street $2,539,039 KE&G 1/26/2016 Riggs Road - Hawes Road Ellsworth Road $2,674,455 Grey Mountain 1/26/2016 Control Air Monitoring HVAC Improvement - East Valley Bus Operations $1,530,500 RK Sanders 1/21/2016 Sunset Road Silverbell Road to Interstate 10 $8,287,462 Borderland

1/12/2016 Bush Highway Asphalt Rubber Overlay $2,875,000 NGU 1/8/2016 11th Street Improvement & Waterline Replacement $622,823 Standard 12/30/2015 Greenway Rd Litchfield Rd Bullard Ave Roadway Improvements $3,003,427 Nesbitt 12/23/2015 McQueen Road Improvements Riggs Chandler Heights $4,040,044 Grey Mountain 12/22/2015 AZ Flap 89 Flagstaff Vista Overlook $18,726,942 FNF 12/21/2015 (CMAR) Cloud Song Center at SCC $8,500,000 Oakland 12/21/2015 Viewpoint Dr Stormwater Channelization Improvements $380,995 Alliance Streetworks

Past Project Awards Spring 1961 Allison Steel Mfg. Co., Phoenix, for constructing a 1,200-ton skip hoist at Kennecott's copper mine in Santa Rita, New Mexico. This is a subcontract under National Iron Co's $2.5 million contract to modify ore hauling, which uses a mine railroad. The Santa Rita Mine is one of the oldest in the U.S., having operated since the days of the Spanish conquistadors.

Paving Palm Gardens, Park Ridge, and Casita Acres subdivisions Nesbitt Contracting Co. $131,284 Curb/Gutter and Paving McDowell Rd. from Central to 19th Ave Fisher Contr. $417, 826 Grading and Paving 7th St. from Thunderbird to Bell Rd. Cyr & Evans $71,750 Bituminous Treatment 5.4 miles on State 177 Southwestern Engr. & Contr. Co. $163,332 Reconstructing and Paving 8.2 miles on US 80 Ashton Co. $1,191,505 Curb/Gutter and Paving Rebuilding Section of US 60-70-80-89 Tanner Bros. Contr. $698,075 Curb/Gutter and Paving Indian School Rd. From I-17 to 7�� Ave. Cyr & Evans $429,012

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