Arizona Contractor & Community Fall 2015 V4 I3 | Page 50
Image courtesy of Arizona Contractor & Community
to a 15-acre quarry at 83rd Avenue and
Van Buren Street in Tolleson. Once the
clay supply ran out, these pits were filled
from dirt left over from freeway
expansions. Our new clay supply was
located in a pit off Pantano Road near Vail,
which is a little southeast of Tucson.
ACC: What are some notable buildings that
used your brick?
CC: The Jefferson and Adams hotels
downtown, Bashas'
supermarkets
located at Seventh Street and Osborn
Road as well as 32nd Street and Indian
School Road, Hallcraft Homes, buildings
at all three state universities, and the
Sperry Plant, just to name a few. In Tucson,
we supplied brick for the Bear Down Gym
and the Federal Savings Tower downtown
at Congress Street and Stone Avenue.
ACC: Did PBY work with various developers
or architects to create any unusual
patterns?
DC: Yes, we did numerous shapes and
colors for buildings such as North Canyon
High School, the Fourth Avenue Jail, the
Arizona Bioscience building, the Home
Depot at Warner and Kyrene Road in
Tempe, the Chateaux on Central Condos,
and Grady Gammage Auditorium.
ACC: How do you manufacture these
unique colors and shapes?
CC: The colors are mainly created by how
the clay was mixed. Different clay mixes
made different colors. Shapes were the
product of changing die and brick cutters.
fifty
Image courtesy of PBY
Top: Masons laying brick for
Hallcraft Homes' Scottsdale Estates, 1958.
Right: Tucson Federal Savings Tower with
four shades of blue-glazed brick at Congress
and Stone streets, 1964.
fall 2015