Unique Roof for Coliseum 21

              Men of Construction-
Howard H. Wright
CONFIDENCE is the biggest factor
when a construction company can
tackle one unique contract after the
other in a span of a year. With a long
record of successful performance behind it, Howard H. Wright's company
has been awarded four major Century
21 projects. Each of these projects has
features of exceptional interest to the
industry.
The 76-year-old Howard S. Wright
Construction Co. is building Coliseum
21, the Monorail, the Space Needle
and the 1,500-car municipal garage
in addition to considerable work in
other areas. A long history of developing special techniques, particularly
with concrete, enabled the firm to
undertake these and other projects
with confidence.
While Wright himself has been
nominally retired since reorganization of the company in 1957, his wisdom and experience are still big factors in the firm's success. His status
was recognized earlier this year when
he was named by the Seattle Chamber
of Commerce as its first Construction
Man of the Year.
The company was organized by
Howard S. Wright, Sr. in 1885 in Port
Townsend, Wash., and the small firm
moved to Everett in 1893. At that time
buildings of $30,000 to $50,000 were
Wright's "big jobs". Howard H.
Wright was born in Everett in 1900,
attended Everett schools and the University of Washington, and went to
work for his father in 1923. His brother-in-law, George J. Schuchart, also
joined the firm at about that time. A
few years later the two younger
members of the family took over
active direction of the company, with
the elder Wright remaining in the
firm as an advisor.
This was a sad time to be in business. The company was working on
the structural frame of the Chinook
Hotel in Yakima when the crash of
1929 took all the sponsor's money. The
Wright firm, with two sub-contractors, waited eight months to be paid
and almost went bankrupt in the
process.
With this crisis over, the company
started the long up-hill pull to its
present eminence. In 1936 the first
pulp mill contract came along and
this type of work was developed as a
specialty. Today pulp mill construction accounts for about 40% of the
Wright business.
While the company's operation today might be described as "spectacular" in view of the pace-setting
structures that it builds, the road to
success was simply a long and hard
grind with the executives doing much
of the work that is normally left to
employees. For example, when the
company got the contract for the
Washington State College football
stadium both partners moved their
families to Pullman and personally
directed the work.
By the time World War II came
along the firm had established a reputation that was solid enough to bring
a lot of defense business through
negotiation. A total of $78 million of
defense work was handled between
1941 and 1944. This included jobs at
the Puget Sound Navy Yard, the Port
Orchard housing project and (in a
joint venture) the city of Richland.
With the end of the war the firm went
back into private work. Today it is
among the top 60 building contractors
in the country in point of volume.
There has to be a reason for the
success of any firm. This company
believes that a large part of its success springs from the strong field
supervision that is maintained. In fact
the officers will tell you that they
have the finest construction staff on
the Pacific  Coast.
A special point is made of training
and developing project managers, engineers, superintendents, and other
key personnel and keeping them
steadily employed. These veterans
have contributed many unique and
valuable construction techniques,
particularly on projects where the
architects and engineers have incorporated new ideas into the plans. For
example, Seattle's Northgate shopping
center had design features that permitted a new concept in concrete
forming which was developed and
successfully applied by the Wright
organization. The engineers and field
men were also largely responsible
for the expert use of tilt-up construction when that technique was introduced.
Another Wright credo dictates close
teamwork between the contractor and
the architect or engineer. This has
resulted in some almost-unbelievable
records for fast construction. For example, the Norton Building contract
was awarded on preliminary plans
and the building permit was not is-
l»Snr" '*"a>.  '«••
V
WRIGHT
Pacific Builder & Engineer—December 1961
I
sued until six months after the job
was started. The accomplishment was
all the more remarkable in that some
innovations in the use of prestressed
beams were successfully incorporated
in the design.
When the present Space Needle
job is finished it will have been designed  and  built  in  just   13  months.
In the industrial and commercial
construction fields, the firm stresses
the value of repeat business, with the
benefits accruing both to the contractor and the customer.
The firm was reorganized in 1957
and Howard H. Wright stepped out
of the day-to-day activities. The present officers of the company are:
Winston D. Brown, president; Howard S. Wright, Jr., George S. Schuchart and Harlan S. Bixby, vice presidents; Daniel L. Ruthford, treasurer.
Wright has managed to combine
outstanding contributions to the community with hard work in the construction industry. He is or has been
a board member or trustee of the
Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the
Seattle Foundation, the Boys Club of
Seattle, Goodwill Industries, Seattle
Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Historical Society, Virginia Mason Hospital,
National Bank of Commerce, Community Chest, United Good Neighbors,
and is a non-Catholic member of the
Board of Regents, Seattle University.
He has been active in St. Stephens
Episcopal Church since it was founded in 1943 and has been awarded the
Bishop's Cross for his services.
He is in constant touch with the
affairs of the company, mainly
through his son Howard S. Wright,
Jr., who is keeping alive the family
tradition of close attention to detail.
The long shadow of Howard H.
Wright will continue to influence
Pacific   Northwest  construction.
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