Arizona Contractor & Community Magazine has just released the July/August issue, which takes a look at farming and construction in the state. Staff were so excited about the topic that we even featured our second-ever "centerfold," a beauty built by Del Webb using new...

Phenomenal growth occurred in Phoenix after World War II, causing influential residents to seek big city amenities. A modern playhouse was high on the list for the Phoenix Little Theatre Company. The city, prodded by Maie Bartlett Heard, Frank Snell, and Barry Goldwate...

Dana Woudenberg grinned as he reminisced about growing up with his father, John Woudenberg. “He was a hard worker and always had business deals going. John was also the biggest human being I’d ever seen,” he laughs. “If he started yelling, my brother and I would run.”

J...

In a time when 'spectacle architecture' looks for media attention, it is essential to recall the post-World War II era and a specific architect who put people first in his approach to architectural design: Calvin C. Straub, FAIA.

I was first exposed to Straub in the ear...

A ring at the doorbell more than a decade ago changed my life forever. A neighbor, who knew I enjoyed construction and vintage machines, brought over an old magazine he found at an estate sale. Arizona Builder & Contractor captivated me, and I became devoted to learnin...

The Silver Dollar Drive-In Theatre lived up to its name: the snack bar had silver dollars embedded in the floor and admission was $1 per car when it opened in 1950. Even at that affordable price, many patrons snuck in on foot or in car trunks to watch the movies for fr...

Our May/June issue of Arizona Contractor & Community Magazine is dedicated to our dear friend and co-worker, Charles “Chuck” Runbeck, who passed away recently at age 91. Chuck put his sterling reputation on the line to sign up our first advertisers, and possessed the m...

“Here comes the rabbit, rabbit, rabbit!”

Seldom have six simple words so quickly got the heart-pounding and adrenaline pumping. Cheering and wagering on greyhounds bursting from the starting box on their chase of a mechanical lure, as it is officially called, was a sign...

Visitors to Coolidge, Arizona typically pass through the city on their way to the Casa Grande National Monument, the nation's first archeological preserve. These tourists, maybe focused on having breakfast at Tag’s Café or snagging a room at the Moonlight Motel, overlo...

Three decades ago, a long-running local TV program vanished from the Phoenix airwaves. For those who experienced some portion of that impressive run, the Wallace and Ladmo Show endures as an incomparable and deeply beloved pinnacle of Arizona’s cultural history. For th...