![]() ![]() A new manufacturing plant and offices were built on South Interstate 35 in 1965. Soon after I arrived, we developed the concept of standard parts.” While at Delta, I developed a computer program to design rigid frames. Lon also stated that Star was among the early members of the Metal Building Manufacturing Association.īob Hall, a Star president in the 1970’s and currently a Star Builder in Oklahoma City recently said, “I came to Star to modernize the product design and make it competitive. I agreed to come on the condition that I bring Wayne Curran with me.” Wayne, later to become vice-president of sales for Star, set up Star’s builder organization. He wanted to go from a sales/agent type of distribution to a franchised builder/contractor approach. “Bill hired me to change the way Star was marketing their product. Lon Shealy, who retired as Star’s president in 1987, made these comments. In 1961, Star Manufacturing Company sold the first solid web rigid frame building with colored rib wall panels to A Welders Supply in Oklahoma City. These two gentlemen would change the product and the marketing distribution system to what it generally is today. Bill Voss became an Inland distributor for the Southwestern United States.īill Voss hired Lon Shealy as vice president of sales in 1961, and in 1963 hired Bob Hall, a young engineer from Delta Steel Buildings, as vice president of engineering. Inland was selling solid web rigid frame buildings, a new concept at the time. In the late 1950’s Bill met Lon Shealy, then assistant sales manager for Inland Steel Buildings. Bill Voss saw a decline in the sectional steel building market and Star’s sales were suffering. The coming years brought tremendous change. These buildings were mass produced and shipped throughout the Pacific. During World War II, Star also produced “Quonset huts,” small pre-fabricated round top buildings. These structures used a “bowstring” truss with a defined radius and a rounded top appearance. Star became a principal producer of aircraft hangars for the central United States during World War II. The truss segments were attached to each other with hot rivets.Īnother new market emerged in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. They were fabricated in panel sections that were commonly 8’ by 16’or 20’ long and bolted together in the field. Star buildings were used for warehouses and factories. Buildings became larger, but the manufacturing materials and the panel cladding remained much the same. The market was good, and the company prospered. Rowland soon established the company’s first location on South Byers Street and started producing Star metal buildings. They were made from angle and galvanized corrugated steel, were standard size and pre-engineered. H Rowland, saw the need to supply these doghouses to the oil industry. Into this boomtown environment, in 1927, Star Manufacturing Company was born. Those small buildings were called doghouses. ![]() Each oil derrick needed a cover for the engine that pumped the oil and every drilling rig needed at least one tool shed. You could smell it, and you could see it. In the 1920’s, a new industry was emerging in Oklahoma City, a frontier town established by a land run in 1889. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |