VOLUME 14 ISSUE 2
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AN ARCHITECT TRACES OLD MORENCI FROM ITS ORIGINS TO ITS OBSOLESCENCE TUCSON’S ANNE ROCKFELLOW: ARIZONA’S FIRST WOMAN REGISTERED ARCHITECT IN THE ROUND AND DISTINCTIVE FROM ABOVE: W. A. SARMIENTO’S CREATIONS FRANK FAZIO’S PIONEERING GARDEN-STYLE OFFICE BUILDINGS IN PHOENIX A DIFFERENTLY-ABLED ARCHITECT WHO CREATED MOBILITY: ROBERT LYNCH
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FAVORITE ARCHITECTURAL STYLE?
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Contributors James Logan Abell Art Deco and Ray Artigue Streamlined Jennifer Levstik Moderne Chelsea Mandel Donna Reiner Luke Snell Baroque and Buddhist Doug Sydnor Josh Umar Organic, as Mark Vinson
Neo-Expressionism - Non-Euclidian Geometry RULES!
Neo-Expressionism Brutalism
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Serving Contracting Firms and the Arizona Community… Then & Now 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 © 2025 All rights reserved.
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10 14 19 47 48 52 58 64 68 72 74 80 84 88 90 94
CONTENTS Contributors - James Logan Abell, Ray J. Artigue Sr., Jennifer Levstik & Mark C. Vinson From The Editor: Bertrand “Bud” Goldberg: Creator of Remarkable Roadside Pitstops - Douglas Towne Construction Around Arizona: Projects • People • Practices Back When: Frank Fazio’s Design Still Blooms Billy Horner Old Morenci: An Architect’s Perspective Part 1: Territorial Origins - Mark C. Vinson, FAIA/AICP Old Morenci: An Architect’s Perspective Part 2: Evolution and Obsolescence Mark C. Vinson, FAIA/AICP Hidden in Plain Sight: Anne Graham Rockfellow, Arizona’s First Woman Registered Architect Jennifer Levstik, WestLand Resources, Inc. In the Round and Distinctive from Above: W. A. Sarmiento - Donna Reiner Frank Fazio’s Pioneering Garden-Style Office Buildings in Phoenix - Ray J. Artigue, Sr. Saluting Arizona’s Builders: Frederick “Fred” Penn Weaver, Jr. - James Logan Abell, FAIA Old School Equipment: The Twin Stack Story of Modified Caterpillar D8 Bulldozers - Billy Horner Building on the Past: 1960s - Architects Bond with Machinery - Billy Horner Architect’s Perspective: Sydnor Threads Book Doug Sydnor, FAIA Digging Through the Archives: My Connection to Phoenix’s Freeway Plaza - Billy Horner Bid Results Advertising Index
Front Cover Attending the groundbreaking for the new Bonanza Airlines facility at Sky Harbor Airport are John Girand of Johannessen & Girand, engineers; Fred Weaver of Weaver & Drover, architects; Carroll Bernhardt, chief of operations at Del Webb Home Office Contracting Division (kneeling, l-r); Edmund Converse, president of Bonanza Air Lines; and Robert Coop, Phoenix city manager (standing, l-r), 1965. Article on page 72
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JAMES LOGAN ABELL, FAIA, LA ARTICLES ON PAGE 29 & 72
RAY J. ARTIGUE, SR. ARTICLE ON PAGE 68
J
R
ames Logan Abell is an architect, landscape architect, and urban designer. Known for campus masterplans and K-12 public schools, he has also designed hotels, office buildings, zoological gardens, and residential homes. Abell was awarded the 2010 AIA Kemper Medal, one of the highest individual honors for an American architect. The award, given annually for 65 years, was conferred for many years of creating civic visioning plans for dozens of U.S. towns to promote livable communities and excellence in urban design. In 2014, Abell was awarded the national AIA Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture for having “…evidenced great depth, with a cumulative effect on the quality of public architecture, with excellence that has impacted a broad cross-section of the community, and recognized for the significance of their lasting contribution to our enhanced quality of life.” Abell’s architecture was noted for its budget-conforming public-school designs that are “…artfully elevated through the use of color, texture, form, and variety,” which have positively impacted thousands of students. Mayor Paul Monette of Newport, VT, characterized Abell’s skillset as follows: “More than a talented architect and public advocate of responsive architecture, James is a ‘visionary citizen of democracy,’ bringing citizens of all walks of life together to dream, collaborate, plan, and take action to improve our nation’s communities.”
ay Artigue operates the public relations firm Artigue Advisors, founded as The Artigue Agency in 2006. Previously, he was president of Barclay Communications, executive director of the MBA Sports Business Program, and professor of practice at ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business. From 1991 to 2006, Ray was senior vice president of marketing for the Phoenix Suns, directing sales, marketing, and branding and managing their internal communications. Initially, Ray operated Evans/Artigue Public Relations, which the Public Relations Society of America recognized for its award-winning work for clients such as VISA International, Citibank, ASU Athletics, and Pointe Hilton Resorts. Ray graduated from ASU in 1976, earning a Bachelor of Science from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He received the Hall of Fame Award both from the ASU College of Public Programs in 1994 and the Cronkite School in 1997. The Phoenix Business Journal included him in its “Most Admired Leaders” program in 2006. Ray’s community service includes serving as president of the Phoenix Thunderbirds, chairman of the 1999 Waste Management Phoenix Open, Phoenix Suns Charities Board, Cronkite School Endowment Board, and director of the boards of The Fiesta Bowl, Make-a-Wish of Arizona, Valley Leadership, ASU Sun Devil Club, The Salvation Army, and the Native American Sports Institute.
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TWELVE
JENNIFER LEVSTIK ARTICLE ON PAGE 58
MARK C. VINSON FAIA/AICP ARTICLES ON PAGE 48 & 52
J
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ennifer Levstik is an architectural historian who heads up the historic preservation group for WestLand Resources, Inc., an environmental and engineering consulting company based in Tucson, Arizona. She has over 26 years of experience in archaeology, planning, and historic preservation and has worked throughout the western United States. She has served as an adjunct instructor for the University of Arizona’s College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture, was the former Vice-Chair of the Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission, and served on the board of the Southern Arizona Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Over the last several years, Jennifer has turned her research interests toward the history of Arizona’s women and minority communities. She has been actively working to get more representation in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). She recently prepared historic district nominations for Randolph, Arizona’s oldest surviving historically Black community located in Pinal County, and Barrio San Antonio, Tucson’s earliest middle-class Mexican American suburb. Both were listed in the NRHP in April 2024. Jennifer enjoys spending time with her two dogs and working on her 1950s-era house outside of her job. Jennifer is also an avid equestrian and is currently training to achieve her bronze medal in dressage.
ark Vinson is a Registered Architect and Certified Planner with expertise in architectural and urban design, historic preservation, and critical regionalism. A native of Arizona’s Clifton-Morenci mining district, he holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in architecture from ASU and professional development certificates in preservation (Section 106 compliance) from the University of Nevada-Reno and golf course design from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Mark has been elected to the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows and is a past recipient of the Arizona Architects Medal, Governor’s Honor Awards for Historic Preservation, the Arizona Preservation Foundation President’s Award, the Alumni Service Award from the ASU College of Architecture and Environmental Design and Tempe Beautification Awards. He co-authored the award-winning books And TiKo-Tu? The Midcentury Architecture of Greater Phoenix’ East Valley (Rio Salado Architecture Foundation) and Landmark Buildings: Arizona’s Architectural Heritage (Arizona Highways), as well as articles in Arizona Planning and the Journal of Arizona History. Mark was the City of Tempe’s founding Historic Preservation Officer and served as Tempe’s City Architect / Design, Preservation + Long Range Planning Manager. He has also been a Faculty Associate at ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. Mark is now engaged in private architectural, planning, and preservation practice as VinsonStudio PLLC in Scottsdale. MARCH APRIL 2025
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EDITORS COLUMN:
BERTRAND “BUD” GOLDBERG: CREATOR OF REMARKABLE ROADSIDE PITSTOPS DOUGLAS TOWNE
T
hree years ago, one of our favorite contributors, Tempe architect James Logan Abell, FAIA, wrote a trifecta of articles for our magazine involving famed architect Bertrand “Bud” Goldberg. The two met in 1979 when Abell was the youngest of seven architects who worked with the Chicagoan on a high-rise construction project at Good Samaritan Hospital, renamed Banner-University Medical Center in 2015. The efficient layouts of its cloverleaf design were heralded upon the completion of the hospital’s 12-floor patient tower. Some Phoenix residents, however, were unsure about the aesthetics of the ultra-modern,
curving building with oval windows. Like many groundbreaking designs, most now view the hospital building as a beloved addition to the city’s skyline. G oldberg’s architecture was personally appealing, especially his early commissions for vernacular buildings providing gas, food, and lodging. While researching his life, I learned of a connection to his son, Geoffrey Goldberg, who heads an architectural firm in Chicago, G. Goldberg + Associates. Another hat I wear is that of editor for the Society for Commercial Archeology, the nation’s oldest organization (since 1977) dedicated to celebrating vintage roads and
roadside buildings—think Route 66 and stainless-steel diners. Geoffrey was a member of the SCA in its early days. “A friend and I used a diner to analyze HVAC systems in architecture school,” Geoffrey told me in 2022. “Heat was generated at the cooktop, and cooling was achieved through flow-through ventilation. The professor was less than enthusiastic, but the class loved it.” Geoffrey fondly recalled his SCA days, especially the All-Night Diner Tour in Massachusetts and Rhode Island in 1980. The group boarded a 1958 General Motors bus at dusk and made nocturnal pilgrimages to eight diners that were manufactured from 1925 to the 1960s. “We will enjoy blueberry pancakes, homemade mac and meatballs, grilled corn muffins, grape-nut pudding, and enough java to raise the Titanic,” declared the event program. “Prepare for an experience to remember.” With the SCA connection, Geoffrey generously explained his father’s forays into small-scale commercial buildings, the first of which was a gas station in Chicago in 1938. The Clark Maple Gas Station was constructed to meet restrictive site conditions requiring minimal excavation. The two masts on which the roof hung were a simple answer inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s buildings for the 1933 Century of Progress World’s Fair in Chicago. Transparent walls exposed two washing-greasing bays, adding to the building’s appeal. Motorists flocked to this modern Chicago station. “It has shown that even Standard Oil could underestimate…what a new building like this could do for one of its gasoline dealers,” Goldberg told the Architectural Forum then.
Top: Clark Maple Gas Station in Chicago, 1938. Right: North Pole Ice Cream store in River Forest, IL, 1938. Below: North Pole Ice Cream store ready to be transported, 1938.
Image Courtesy of G. Goldberg + Associates
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Geoffrey offered little-known insights about the building. “One of the notable features of the gas station were the neon lights spelling, ‘Gas For Less’ woven into the cable supports from the masts,” he said. “My father told me that the neon signage at the gas station ‘looked lovely, and lasted about one night, as the winds broke the neon.’”
That same year, Goldberg designed Top left: Good Samaritan Hospital, Phoenix, North Pole Ice Cream, a portable store that 1982. could move north and south, like a migrating Top middle: Bertrand “Bud” Goldberg. Above: Geoffrey Goldberg. bird, to sell ice cream in season. “Its glass Below: Marina City Towers, Chicago, walls and cantilevered roof were suspended mid-1960s. from a mast anchored to a truck chassis, a part of the building,” Goldberg said. The served by a “mother truck” that manufacarchitect envisioned a fleet of these stores tured ice cream. Geoffrey says mobility, speed, flexibility, and their relation to architecture were important to his father. “These were all part of the modern world and were embraced as part of his thinking, along with how things were used and made.” In 1958, Goldberg conceived the Route 66 Motel, an unbuilt project for a site on Chicago’s South Shore Drive. The architect reprised this design to create his seminal work, Marina City, in the mid-1960s. The two 62-story residential concrete towers anchored a theater, rail line, ice-skating rink, bowling alley, and office building in Chicago. The spiral ramps on the first 20 floors of the towers show the parked vehicles rather than hiding them—an unusual approach. More than a half-century later, Marina City remains a highly desirable address. The Chicago architect later adopted aspects of the Marina City design for medical facilities like Phoenix’s Good Samaritan Hospital. Although Goldberg died in 1997, and his daring Phoenix hospital tower is tentatively scheduled for demolition in 2031, Abell is confident about the Chicago architect’s continued influence. “Goldberg’s extensive writings are still relevant today, and his legacy of excellence is known worldwide.” I just wish the architect’s appealing gas, food, and lodging creations were still around to be enjoyed.
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s Arizona’s construction industry expands, companies seek innovative ways to optimize their operational efficiency while navigating capital investment challenges. One powerful but often overlooked tool is the sale-leaseback (SLB) transaction, particularly for industrial outdoor storage (IOS) and warehousing facilities essential to many construction firms. We’ll discuss what a sale-leaseback is, how it works, and why it offers unique advantages for companies in the construction industry that need outdoor storage or industrial real estate. Understanding these transactions can provide companies with strategic financial flexibility, allowing them to reinvest in growth while maintaining operational control of key assets. What Is a Sale-Leaseback? A sale-leaseback is a financial arrangement in which a company sells its property—such as an industrial yard or storage facility—and then leases it back from the new real estate owner. This means that the company can continue using the property for its operations but is no longer tied to owning it. The company also generates meaningful proceeds from the sale transaction. For construction firms, which often require significant outdoor space for storing machinery, equipment, and materials, sale-leasebacks provide a way to free up
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cash tied up in real estate. This capital can be reinvested into growth initiatives, such as acquiring new projects, upgrading equipment, or scaling operations. The Role of Industrial Outdoor Storage (IOS) in Arizona’s Construction Industry Industrial outdoor storage refers to the use of outdoor space for storing equipment, vehicles, and materials essential to construction and other industrial sectors. In Arizona’s growing construction industry, firms rely on these spaces for: • Storing heavy equipment like excavators, bulldozers, and trucks. • Stockpiling construction materials such as steel, concrete, and lumber. • Housing modular components and prefabricated units used in large-scale projects. Arizona’s unique climate—with its dry, predictable weather—makes IOS an ideal solution, as many assets don’t need the protection of indoor warehousing. However, the cost of owning land for this purpose can be significant, especially as real estate prices continue to rise in fast-growing areas like Phoenix and Tucson. How Does a Sale-Leaseback Work in Practice? A sale leaseback begins with the construction firm selling its real estate to an investor. In exchange, the firm signs a longterm lease to continue occupying the space. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown: 1. Assessment and Sale: The company works with a real estate advisor to generate a sale-leaseback value of the property and run an investor marketing process to bring in offers for the asset. Once a buyer is found, the property is
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sold, and the company receives the proceeds from the sale. 2. Leaseback Agreement: The company negotiates a lease agreement with the buyer during the process, and the lease agreement commences upon closing the sale transaction. This ensures that the company continues to use the property without interruption, typically under a long-term lease that guarantees operational stability. 3. Operational Continuity: The business continues to use the space just as before without having to manage the responsibilities of property ownership and with a passive landlord who does not interfere with the business. By structuring the deal this way, companies can maintain operational control while gaining the financial flexibility to reinvest in their operations.
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Back When
FRANK FAZIO’S DESIGN STILL BLOOMS BILLY HORNER
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eneral contractor H & J Construction completed an impressive portfolio of projects in Arizona (see the Nov/ Dec 2019 issue of ACC), including the Desert Rose Motor Hotel at 3424 East Van Buren Street in Phoenix. The Desert Rose was the work of architect Frank Fazio, who is also profiled in this issue. The motor hotel was unique, as H & J typically worked with Barrie Groen, another Arizona-registered architect. The Desert Rose was located at the site of the decommissioned Maricopa Canal. It joined the sprawling collection of hotels, motels, and inns that flourished during Van Buren’s peak as a popular overnight tourist
destination. Fazio designed the motor hotel for E.B. Sode, a Chicago manufacturing executive. The two-story motor hotel featured 57 furnished units with modern amenities such as air conditioning, telephones, TVs, and radios. The Desert Rose’s layout included a drive-in lobby for registration and a restaurant at the corner of Van Buren and 34th Street. The guest units were arranged in a U-shape to the north, with parking located along Melvin Street on the opposite side of the units. A towering sign, located just east of the entrance, enhanced the hotel’s visibility. Construction on the $300,000 motor hotel began in December 1956. Sode held some earth from the excavator’s first scoop
at the groundbreaking ceremony. The Desert Rose opened in November 1957. Today, the complex houses the Diane and Bruce Halle Women’s Center at UMOM, a nonprofit United Methodist Outreach Ministries shelter for single women experiencing homelessness. The original structures remain intact, including the lobby’s flagstone exterior. The most significant change is the heated swimming pool behind the restaurant and lobby building, which was filled in to provide additional parking. This long-lasting building is a testament to Fazio’s well-crafted designs. Bottom: Hotel exterior, 1962. Below: Hotel matchbook.
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