About Us
The Company has
seen many major changes within the construction industry since its beginning.
It was on
January 12, 1908, that a young man, by the name of William G. Carver, in
partnership with George W. Peck, decided to go into the business of sheet metal
working. Under the name of Liberty Sheet Metal Works, this new company was set
up in a small building located at 231 West South Temple and quickly established
itself as a supplier of all kinds of tin, copper, and sheet iron work in the
Salt Lake area.
Shortly after
getting the business started, Mr. Peck met with tragedy during the following
November, when he fell down an elevator shaft of a warehouse building that they
were working on. Decision was made to continue the business as a
proprietorship.
Before long,
(1915) Liberty Sheet Metal was in their second location at 49 Post Office
Place. There, most of the work centered
around furnace duct work and architectural trims.
However, it was at this time that the company also
became involved in specialty manufacturing. Prominent among these specialty
items was one of the first electric traffic control semaphores utilizing red and
green lights and hung in the middle of the intersection for visibility. It was invented by C.J.
Reading, an engineer with Salt Lake City, and manufactured by W.G. Carver, at the facilities of Liberty Sheet Metal
Works.
Orders for the
new semaphore began to come in from around the country. In addition to Salt
Lake City, Atlanta, Georgia and Portland, Oregon were among the major cities
using the Reading & Carver semaphores.
However the demand for these signals soon made it impractical to build
them on a job lot basis, and Liberty returned to commercial construction.
Business
remained good and by 1922, the company was again looking for larger, more
suitable facilities. This time, in addition to moving to 134 West 3rd South,
the name was changed to CARVER SHEET METAL WORKS.
During the early
part of 1923, the bookkeeper, who was Mr. Carver's eldest daughter, decided
that she wanted to go to California on a vacation. So Mr. Carver asked a young
man to come work while she was away. Her vacation was so great it became
somewhat extended, and the young man remained at his "temporary" job
with Carver Sheet Metal Works. He was Jack H. Goaslind.
Continuing to
produce just about anything made from sheet metal, the company manufactured
metal liners for Coca-Cola ice boxes, as well as the old standbys of metal
gutters, chimneys, architectural trim and metal roofs.
By the mid-twenties, the growing popularity of
electrically lighted signs saw the advent of still another dimension to the
sheet metal business and Carver Sheet Metal was able to place "Advelite" signs throughout the inter-mountain area.
In 1933, William
A. Carver, started to work in the shop after school, and summers. He served an
apprenticeship and became a journeyman sheet metal worker. Following his
mission for the L.D.S. Church and his tour of duty
with the Army in the European Theater of Operations, he has devoted his full
time to the business of sheet metal contracting.
Gradually, the
predominate work began to turn to the then new concept of commercial and
industrial forced air heating and ventilation projects such as the BYU Science
Building in 1947.
And there were
other projects like the Sears store on Eighth South, the Center Theater, and
the old Montgomery Ward Building.
After site
preparations were made in November 1950, construction of their present office
and manufacturing plant began. And it was business as usual in their new
building the following year.
Even during the
"Floods of '52", the determination of the company maintained and work
continued through the hardship of getting to the office. With the help from an
old boat, workers were ferried over the "13th South River" to the
stacks of sandbags to be able to get to work. Electric equipment had to be
disconnected and manually operated to meet the job deadlines for the day.
Office operations were moved to the upstairs area out of the water seeping
through the joints between the concrete slabs.
During the
summer of 1967, Reed H. Carver began to do whatever he could within the family
business. Then in 1974, he began to serve his apprenticeship in the sheet metal
industry and later became a Journeyman sheet metal worker.
Today’s needs in
the market place for items manufactured in the architectural field are still
called for. Metal roofing appears to be making a comeback in popularity as the
spectrum of colors, materials; profiles and needs are designed into the
projects. During the renovation of the Hotel Utah building, a new copper roof
system was installed. Copper was used on the canopy for the Tony Roma's
Restaurant on Fort Union Blvd. and on the Quality Inn, located in the
International Center. And copper domes, such as those fabricated and installed
for the '49th Street Galleria. A gray roof system was utilized for the Women's Center
at Cottonwood Hospital. Juliett's, in the ZCMI Center, chose a brass for their store front roof
section.
On buildings,
metal caps and gravel stops are necessary to help protect the edge of the roofing
material and to prevent water from penetrating behind the edge of the
roof. Penthouses containing louvers can
be fabricated to cover the air shafts which supply buildings with the fresh air
needed for their air conditioning.
Being able to
create a pleasant atmosphere was achieved through intricate design on the
columns and vendor carts at the Richard's Street level of the Crossroad Mall.
Designed in shapes is what the ZCMI Center Food Court
requested to achieve their atmosphere.
The need for
stainless steel items comes from many places. Many of the local hospitals have
need for stainless steel fabricated items. From the repair of
autoclaves to corner guards and door kick-plates. Food preparation
surfaces for Mrs. Fields Cookies. Acid resistant counters, ladles, and trays
for the O.C. Tanner Co.. Stainless steel railings and protective covers at the Salt Lake
International Airport baggage area. Clean room areas, such as found at
National Semiconductor, utilize the sanitary qualities of stainless steel.
With
environmental concerns of today, the need for proper industrial ventilation
equipment to be installed is very important. Paint booths and vent stacks for
industry have become a very 
important
concern.
Many times
special skills are needed from craftsmen to replace items necessary in
restoring the appearance of something that may have been damaged or lost.
During the restoration of St. Mark's Cathedral, copper dormers had to be
created to match the originals. Re-working and replacing sections were needed
when the request came from the L.D.S. Church Museum
in their re-creation of the early ZCMI store front
facade used in their exhibit. Sections of formed cornice work also have been
sent to New York, for the restoration of some local 'turn-of-the-century'
buildings.
New
challenges
occur when requests are made to make an already functional piece of
equipment
even more functional by fabricating enclosures and tool compartments as
requested by the owner. Such was the request of Utah Power and Light,
now Pacific Corp., with some of their snow cats used in hard to reach
repair areas.
In the face of the
rapidly changing industry and technology, Carver Sheet Metal Works, Inc.,
remains one of the oldest sheet metal companies in Utah and is proud to be
involved in the shaping of the Salt Lake skyline. Today, we are
endeavoring to provide a full service of sheet metal application for today's
customer using some of the latest technology available.
These services
include:
Architectural
sheet metal,
Metal roofing
and siding,
Commercial air
ventilation,
Stainless steel
fabrication,
Aluminum
fabrication,
Specialty
manufacturing,
| HOME |