VOLUME 15 ISSUE 5
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WESTERN MACHINERY CO: SUPPLYING ARIZONA’S EQUIPMENT FOR 60 YEARS STENJEM BUILDING CREATES SPANISH COLONIAL ELEGANCE IN SCOTTSDALE USHERING IN TUCSON’S PROGRESSIVE ARCHITECTURE: ARTHUR “ART” BROWN FRED M. GUIREY: MODERN ARCHITECT AND COUNTY PARK ADVOCATE STEVE BOEN: TALENTED HEAVY EQUIPMENT—AND CAMERA—OPERATOR
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JUMBO SHRIMP AND UNDERSIZED LIMES: A 1980S ROCKY POINT ODYSSEY
THE $7 MILLION TUCSON POWER PLANT PROJECT ONEMACHINE HEADLINE ESTIMATED WITHFEATURE AN ADDING OKLAND COMPLETES AC HOTEL IN OLD TOWN SCOTTSDALE
WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY IMPROVES “FATAL FOUR” CONSTRUCTION RISKS
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Advertising 602-931-0069 arizcc.com/advertise Subscriptions: Online at arizcc.com 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 © 2026 All rights reserved.
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CONTENTS Contributors - James Logan Abell & Bill Kelton From The Editor: Jumbo Shrimp and Undersized Limes: A Labor Day Weekend Rocky Point Odyssey - Douglas Towne Construction Around Arizona: Projects • People • Practices Back When: Mesa Paving Preps Sky Harbor for the Jumbo Age - Billy Horner A $7 Million Project Estimated with an Adding Machine: Tucson’s Irvington Generating Station - Bill Kelton Supplying Arizona’s Equipment for 60 Critical Years: Western Machinery Co. (WEMCO) - Billy Horner Scottsdale North CityHomes: Stenjem Building Creates Spanish Colonial Elegance - Douglas Towne Hermann P. Jacobi: Symphonies of Pattern and Texture James Logan Abell, FAIA Ushering in Tucson’s Progressive Architecture: Arthur “Art” Brown, FAIA - James Logan Abell, FAIA Saluting Arizona’s Builders: James Bond Maureen E. Towne Old School Equipment: The Double-Gate, Belly-Dump Trailer - Billy Horner Building on the Past: 1982 - Scottsdale’s Big Financial Dig Billy Horner Architect’s Perspective: Fred M. Guirey: Post-War Modern Architect - Doug Sydnor, FAIA Digging Through the Archives: Steve Boen: A Talented Heavy Equipment—and—Camera Operator - Billy Horner Bid Results Advertising Index
Front Cover A Caterpillar D9 dozer assists a loaded scraper in climbing out of a tail pit excavation, where railroad coal cars will be rotated to dump their coal. Note the lack of cabs on the equipment; summertime in a deep hole in Tucson was brutal. Article on page 48
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Image Courtesy of Bill Kelton
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an a lover of urbanism and historic architecture also be an ardent outdoorsman? Of course! “You can take the architect out of his native Colorado, but you can’t take the Colorado out of this design-guy!” Abell says. He adds that his youth, spent hiking in the Rockies and doing fully belayed vertical rock climbing, was as risky as it ever got and served as a prologue to his Arizona adventures. At 18, Abell joined his fellow players on the Arizona State University tennis team for a hike in the Superstition Wilderness, all wearing tennis shoes. He also did technical rope climbing and bouldering with his architecture college buddies. His go-to trek is Four Peaks in the Mazatzal Wilderness, and he has signed the register at the summit of Brown’s Peak, Maricopa County’s tallest point, on numerous occasions. Two of his favorite mountain hikes are Mt. Humphreys, the tallest mountain in Arizona, and Half Dome in Yosemite. As part of a family reunion in 2026, he rambled in the Weminuche Wilderness near Durango, Colorado. As an architect, landscape architect, urban designer, and visiting professor of architecture at two NAAB-accredited design schools, Abell is gratified to have lived out his legacy of Rocky Mountain outdoor life.
he Kelton Family’s construction legacy in Arizona began in the 1930s, and Bill has contributed to it for 50 years. Even after retiring in 2023, he can’t keep his nose out of the business and dabbles in woodworking, 3D printing, and epoxy resin casting. Despite all the fun, Bill says there is still nothing like taking on a challenge in the heavy construction industry. He consults with several contractors on everything from implementing new accounting software and job costing to preparing proposals, reviewing large bids, and helping resolve issues that arise. He also consults with several software companies developing artificial intelligence products for the industry. His goal is to help build guardrails to prevent disaster when construction tasks become fully automated. Besides writing for ACC magazine, Bill also publishes a blog that aims to share life lessons with younger contractors who have yet to encounter the pitfalls built into this industry. He and his wife have two grown boys; one is a master technician for a Caterpillar dealer, and the other is an engineer for a defense-related contractor. They have two beautiful grandchildren, and the first is going to start driving next year, so blood pressure monitoring is definitely on the daily agenda. SEPTEMBER OCTOBER 2026
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