Architect's Perspective: Celebrating the McDowell Sonoran Preserve's Trailheads
Doug Sydnor, FAIA Scottsdale residents realized their quality of life was under threat in 1991. The pristine McDowell Mountains, a...
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Jan 18, 20222 min read
Del Webb “Constructs” A Good Life: His Baseball and Sun City Adventures
Douglas Towne Few in the construction industry have such a rags-to-riches story as Delbert “Del” Eugene Webb. A few years before the...
Jan 6, 20221 min read
Jan/Feb 2022 "Leisure" Issue Released
To kick off 2022, we decided to kick back with an issue devoted to leisure featuring Del Webb giving Joltin Joe DiMaggio some batting...
Dec 28, 20213 min read
The Wild Ride That Created Castles n’ Coasters Amusement Park
Tom Pickrell You see it coming while driving along I-17 in Phoenix near the Dunlap Avenue exit. A bright green and white superstructure...
Nov 5, 20211 min read
AZ Contractor & Community Magazine Digs Into State's Mining Heritage for Nov/Dec 2021 Issue
What's crazier: using atomic bombs to mine copper, a ginormous salt mine under a city, extracting iron from a giant *sandbox* or...
Nov 1, 20213 min read
The Heart of Phoenix: Three Iterations of the Hotel Adams
By Douglas Towne Great hotel nicknames are usually the result of innovative marketing campaigns or are obvious, such as San Diego's Hotel...
Oct 26, 20212 min read
Taking Phoenix to the Next Level: Porter’s Western Wear Store
By Douglas Towne Downtown Phoenix was the city’s commercial district until the 1960s, and one unique store stood out. The business, which...
Oct 20, 20212 min read
Paul Brock: Digging Deep Into Gunnison Contractors and the Man Who Built It
Jeff Kronenfeld Paul Brock was one of the biggest names in underground contracting in the Valley during the 1960s and 1970s. His company,...
Oct 18, 20212 min read
Serious Accomplishment: The Life and Legacy of Architect Kemper Goodwin, FAIA
James Logan Abell, FAIA Jumping on rail cars to travel from Los Angeles to New Orleans in search of work, this man was no ordinary 1930’s...
Oct 14, 20212 min read
Architect’s Perspective: Melverne Coats Ensign – An Inventive Architecture
Doug Sydnor, FAIA Growing up in Phoenix, I noticed some innovative architecture created by an unknown individual. Many years later, I...
Oct 6, 20212 min read
Level and Plumb: The Masonry of Marion J. Evertsen
Tom Pickrell Marion John Evertsen was a prominent masonry contractor in Phoenix for more than 30 years, starting in the 1950s. Largely...
Oct 5, 20212 min read
Air Entrainment in Concrete
Luke M. Snell, P.E. An inspector recently contacted me regarding some concrete loads that exceeded air-content specifications. The...
Sep 29, 20212 min read
Building on the Past 1969: Chrome-Plated Expansion
Aircraft Plating Co. was flying high in 1969. The firm, founded in 1963 at 1313 South 26th Street, was having a new 20,000 square-foot...
Sep 28, 20212 min read
Old School Equipment: Caterpillar’s J621 Paddle Wheel Scraper
Buddy Escapule In 2017, I took my father and sons to Casa Grande to examine a 1971 Caterpillar J621 paddle wheel scraper for sale. The...
Sep 22, 20212 min read
Digging Through the Archives: Vance Grubb III
William Horner According to Vance Grubb III, nothing tops a great job in construction except going into business for yourself. A...
Sep 8, 20212 min read
Digging Through the Archives: Sinagua Paving
William Horner Philip Chesley has encountered some unforgettable people while working in the paving field, including a man wearing gold...
Sep 2, 20211 min read
Sep/Oct Issue Available Now!
Is the just-released 80-page Sep/Oct issue of Arizona Contractor & Community Magazine a history publication masquerading as a...
Sep 1, 20210 min read
Aug 30, 20212 min read
Concrete: King of the Valley’s Roads
Michelle Dodds Concrete denotes something solid, with great strength, and permanence. Perhaps that’s why there was such a clamor way-back...
Aug 24, 20212 min read
Old School Equipment: The Mixermobile and Scoopmobile
After two years in the concrete industry, Ed Wagner of Portland, Oregon, realized the need for a more efficient way to handle the heavy...
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