Nov/Dec 2019

Volume 8 Issue 6

$5.99 Nov-Dec 2019

◊ Glenn A. McCollum: Arizona’s Mid-Century Mall Marvel

Serving Contracting Firms and the Arizona Community. . . Then & Now

◊ The Layton Paver: Adding Blacktop One Driveway at a Time ◊ Tempe’s Haunted Temple of TB Healing at Papago Park ◊ Scottsdale’s “Hi-Fi” Executive House Hotel ◊ Barrie Groen: H & J Construction’s ”Gourmet” Architect

Arizona’s Timeless Magazine

H J

THE &

CONSTRUCTION COMPANY INC.

The Riskas of H & J Construction: Innovators in Building

ABOVE EVERYTHING, QUALITY!

My Grandma’s stuffing

What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

Publisher William Horner Billy@arizcc.com Editor Douglas Towne Douglas@arizcc.com

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Cornbread stuffing

Contributors Andrea Ake Chad Beito John Bueker Chris Cody Brent Myers Luke M. Snell

Pumpkin chiffon pie

Pumpkin pie with real whip cream

Production Manager Laura Horner Laura@arizcc.com

Roasted Parsnips

Magazine Advisor Chuck Runbeck

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Publisher’s Representative Barry Warner Oyster Barry@arizcc.com stuffing Advertising 602-931-0069 Arizcc.com/advertise Visit us online at arizcc.com Serving Contracting Firms and the Arizona Community… Then & Now

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Arizona Contractor & Community (ACC) magazine is published bi-monthly (Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/June, July/Aug, Sept/Oct, Nov/Dec). ACC is a professional publication designed for the contracting industry, engineers, architects, equipment rentals, suppliers, and others interested in Arizona and its history.

Content including text, photographs or illustrations may not be reproduced without the written permission from the publisher. The publisher does not assume responsibility for unsolicited submissions.

ACC reserves the right to reject any editorial and advertising material and reserves the right to edit all submitted content material.

Arizona Contractor & Community Copyright © 2019 All rights reserved.

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From The Editor - ACC’s Puppet Show Douglas Towne Construction Around Arizona: Projects • People • Practices Back When - H & J Construction’s “Ranger” Douglas Towne The Riskas of H & J Construction: Innovators in Building - William Horner Glenn A. McCollum: Arizona’s Mid-Century Mall Marvel - John Bueker The Layton Paver: Adding Blacktop One Driveway at a Time - William Horner Tempe’s Haunted Temple of TB Healing at Papago Park - Douglas Towne Building on the Past - 1961: Scottsdale’s Executive House Hotel Architect’s Perspective - Barrie Groen: H & J Construction’s Designer - William Horner

Digging Through the Archives - Dave McNeil William Horner

58

Bid Results - Bidjudge

60

ACC Advertisers’ Index

Front Cover H & J Construction collage, 1962. Executive Team: Kenneth L. Dixon, - 10, 14 Barrie Groen - 12 Milt D. Hill - 6, 15 Edward Inman - 9 Charles Mericle - 4, 5, 17 Harry Riskas - 7, 11, 13, 16 John Riskas, - 1, 3 Danny Speros - 2, 8

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Images courtesy of Arizona Contractor & Community

EIGHT

Nov-Dec 2019

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Arizona Contractor & Community

Contributors

John Bueker Article on page 36

Luke M. Snell Article on page 25

Bueker was born in ow did this country have Jinohn Detroit, MI but raised Hthe courage to build the Phoenix, where he Erie Canal when there were

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experienced a rather sublime childhood that he never entirely abandoned.

Something of an expert on mid-century Phoenix culture and history, John has contributed to Arizona Contractor and Community magazine since its inception in 2012. He specializes in topics such as shopping centers, restaurants, housing subdivisions, and amusement parks.

He created and maintains a series of nostalgic websites at joandearc.com, which commemorate his favorite locations growing up in the Phoenix area. These include such iconic locales as Legend City, Chris-Town Mall, Westown Shopping Center, and the Copper Belle restaurant.

John is also the writer and editor of the Joan De Arc Crusader, a street newspaper he began at the tender age of 9, which won a Phoenix New Times award for “Best Phoenix Neighborhood Blog” in 2012. His book on the vanished Arizona theme park, Legend City, was released by Arcadia Publishing in 2014.

A former classroom teacher, John currently works as an instructional designer at Arizona State University. In addition to Phoenix history, John enjoys such pastimes as astronomy, Shakespeare, collecting antique board games, and writing and performing music on his trusty Galanti vintage guitar.

John now lives in Glendale with his wife Susan and assorted canines and felines.

no engineering schools in the U.S. and little expertise in canal building? The challenges faced by these self-taught engineers were monumental.

The canal, which traversed the wilderness of upstate New York, was twice as long as any previously built canal and required 34 locks due to elevation changes.

But as a kid living in rural New York near it, we were not taught about the engineering challenges but rather the political issues of building the canal.

After I attained my engineering degrees, I became fascinated by how we developed our construction and engineering techniques that we take for granted today.

As a hobby, I began to research the Erie Canal since I knew some of its stories.

I discovered that a cement company was started because concrete was needed to build the locks. And that because of an inadequate budget, the bridges over the canal had a low clearance. Thus, the “Erie Canal” song, “Low bridge, everybody down,” was required for safety reasons.

This fascination with how we build, and the materials we use, has become a lifelong obsession. Some topics have become articles in Arizona Contractor & Community magazine, and I have many others to offer about the history of construction.

Nov-Dec 2019

arizcc.com

Arizona Contractor & Community

From the editor: Acc’s Puppet Show Douglas Towne

A

t ACC magazine, we hate to see anything go to waste – especially a beautiful historic building. So, it was with considerable anticipation that we celebrated “National Historic Preservation Month” at the Great Arizona Puppet Theater.

The Spanish Colonial-style building at 302 West Latham Street near downtown first opened in 1932 as the Phoenix Second Ward Chapel. Designed by architect Harold W. Burton, it was the first Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel to have the cultural hall placed perpendicular to the chapel. This configuration allowed churchgoers to sit in either space to hear a speaker, according to the website, www.mormonhistoricsites.org. An organ installed by the Austin Organ Company of Hartford, Connecticut provided music for the congregation.

The 400-person church served the Mormon community until 1972 when it closed because it was in the path of the proposed I-10 freeway. ADOT purchased the church and planned to demolish it, but changes to the freeway alignment allowed the building to be saved. The Phoenix Arts Council used Below: Mayor Kate Gallego the property leads the cheer for “This Place for several Matters!” at the Great Arizona years and then Puppet Theater, 2019. in 1999, the Right: The Great Arizona Pup-

Images courtesy of City of Phoenix Historic Preservation

pet Theater, 2019.

Top right: Donna Reiner, William Horner, Douglas Towne, and Vic Linoff contemplate how best to answer a trivia question.

building reopened as the Great Arizona Puppet Theater.

ACC staff, however, weren’t on-site to watch some marionettes. We were part of the show.

To commemorate National Historic Preservation Month, the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office hosted a reception at the puppet theater. The city rolled out the red carpet with a program that featured opening remarks by Mayor Kate Gallego and an appearance by former Mayor Terry Goddard.

Then the fun began. Many in the audience hoped to be crowned King (or Queen) of Phoenix history in a challenging trivia contest. The competition was co-hosted by Michelle Dodds, the Phoenix Historic Preservation Officer and an ACC contributor, and Sherry Rampy, the chair of the Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission.

Our magazine put together a team of staff and contributors that should have been tough to beat: • ACC publisher, William “Billy” Horner, an expert on local construction history, • Donna Reiner, a local history author, history columnist for The Arizona Republic, and former director of Historic Heritage Square, • Vic Linoff, aka “Jay Mark,” a local history author, longtime history columnist for The Arizona Republic, and president of

the Mesa Preservation Society, and • ACC editor, Douglas Towne, a history columnist for PHOENIX magazine and The Arizona Republic.

My prediction was unchanged after the first round, which found us in second place just behind the eventual winners, the “Pumpkinville Refugees,” who were ably assisted by another ACC contributor, John “Mr. Phoenix” Jacquemart. Our hopes steadily decreased, however, as the questions became more complicated and obscure. We limped home with a fourthplace finish out of nine teams, which is nothing to crow about. But our disappointment was appeased by a prize of a bottle of Arizona wine produced by Pierce Wines in Camp Verde, one for each team member.

Thanks to the city for hosting this fun and unique event. And for inspiring the diverse, committed crowd to remain passionate about historic preservation.

TWELVE

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Image courtesy of Vail Preservation Society

Projects . PEOPLE . PRACTICES

Historic Vail, Arizona Railroad Building Rehabbed by Students Chris Cody, State Historic Preservation Office Deputy Director

T

he Iron Horse drove the creation of the Section Foreman House at Marsh Station, located just east of Tucson, in 1915. In contrast, the 2018 restoration of the structure was powered by youth in a partnership between Vail Preservation Society (VPS) and Vail Unified School District (VUSD). The rehabilitation work proved convenient for the students since arizcc.com

the historic railroad building sits in the middle of Cienega High School. How did this unusual location come to be?

When the VUSD acquired the open land for the new high school, planners noted that a section of historic rail bed bisected the site. That rail bed inspired the school’s railroad theme. VUSD approached VPS with the idea of relocating one of six remaining historic buildings from the Vail area and incorporating it as a place for experiential learning opportunities for students. VPS was excited about the chance to weave historic preservation, history, and heritage into the fabric of this new school,

CONSTRUCTION AROUND ARIZONA Projects

CONSTRUCTION AROUND ARIZONA

The restored Section Foreman House at Cienega High School.

and a great partnership was born.

The structure was initially built for the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad as a residence for the foreman who oversaw operations at Marsh Station. VPS purchased the building and moved it to within 15 feet from the school’s historic rail bed, the same distance as it sat from the tracks at its original site. As site construction continued, Lloyd Construction built a bridge whose design mirrored a nearby railroad bridge.

Students cross over the below-grade rail bed on their way to physical education.

A core belief of the VPS is that youth Arizona Contractor & Community