A Downtown Phoenix Building with a Concrete Connection to the 1947 World Series
As October rolled around in 1947, Del Webb would be forgiven for being a bit unfocused on his company’s construction agenda for the new $1 million Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette Building in Downtown Phoenix. Webb, who had once earned more as a baseball player than a carpenter, had become co-owner of the New York Yankees two years before.
That autumn, the Yankees won the World Series for the 11th time, beating their cross-town rival, the Brooklyn Dodgers, in seven games. The series recorded several milestones as the games bounced back and forth between Yankee Stadium and Ebbets Field. TV covered the series for the first time, and Jackie Robinson, who swung a bat for the Dodgers, became the first African American to play. It was also the only time Joe DiMaggio showed his emotions on the field, kicking the dirt in disgust after Al Giofriddo robbed him of a home run at the outfield fence.
“From the standpoint of thrills, I think it was the greatest series ever,” Webb told The Arizona Republic while trying to catch up on his contracting business. “All except one of the games were in doubt until the final out, and the sensational plays were almost a dime a dozen.”
Meanwhile, the Del E. Webb Construction Co. continued work on the 70,000-square-foot, two-story structure designed by local architects Lescher and Mahoney. Groundbreaking for the building occurred in April at Van Buren and Second Streets. Previously, the site at 120 East Van Buren was the location of Consolidated Motors Used Cars, which was razed shortly before construction.
The building would include a new printing plant for the two newspapers purchased by Eugene C. Pulliam in 1946. “This building, a material thing, as valuable as it will be, will only serve the purpose for which it is constructed, provided we house in it the moral, idealistic, and mental values that make newspapers great,” Pulliam said at the groundbreaking.
“The building was built with lots of concrete and very secure,” recalls former Republic photographer Michael Ging. “The printing presses were in the two basements, and you could feel the building vibrate when they started up in the old days.”
Almost 50 years later, in 1995, Phoenix Newspapers Inc. moved its offices down the block to a 10-story office building and parking garage at 200 East Van Buren. Digital Realty, a data services company, currently occupies the midcentury building. “The fact that it was so well made is why they wanted to make it into a secure server building,” Ging says. “But they had to add many more air conditioning units on the roof to keep the servers cool.”
Douglas C. Towne is the editor of Arizona Contractor & Community magazine, www.arizcc.com