Acme Brick Opens New, Consolidated Facility

Fort Worth-based Acme Brick Co. recently opened a new brick showroom and masonry garden in Euless.

Facility Boasts Masonry Garden

A tower-like structure extends above the Acme showroom’s main entrance.

Acme Brick Co. of Fort Worth recently consolidated its Dallas and Fort Worth showrooms into an expansive new facility at 801 Airport Freeway in Euless. The new location, just west of the south entrance to D/FW Airport, provides convenient access to Acme's Metroplex customer base. The new facilities include a 3,800-sq.-ft. showroom and 12,500-sq.-ft. masonry garden.

"We designed the showroom, the building's exterior, and our masonry garden to demonstrate many different ways that brick can be used," said Dennis Knautz, Acme's president & CEO. "This location was chosen to be convenient to potential homebuyers, designers, architects or anyone who wants to learn and see why brick is the best building material for your home, your school, your church, your office complex, or your local mall. We expect this to become the Metroplex destination for anyone who thinks about brick."

Brick in a variety of special shapes were used on the showroom's exterior. The detailing helps homebuyers and commercial customers imagine possibilities for creating a unique and dramatic exterior with genuine clay brick. The showroom's welcoming exterior features a covered arched walkway that leads customers into the showroom. Customers entering the main tower will step onto a glass floor created with the new IBP GlassWalk system and view a large colorful brick sculpture depicting images of Texas.

The dramatic, brick-walled showroom has a broad array of Acme brick color selections displayed on sample walls. Large plasma televisions show complete residential and commercial installations, examples of brick sculptures and installations of the IBP Glass Block system. Customers can shop for other masonry materials including stone, "thin" brick pavers and high-quality masonry fireplaces.

The outdoor masonry garden features genuine clay brick pavers in a variety of shapes, colors, textures and patterns that cover a 12,500-sq.-ft. area. There are 148 sample walls that display different blends of brick, natural Texas stone and concrete block designed to give customers the opportunity to see masonry options in natural light.

Fluor Awarded Contract For Louisiana Refinery Expansion

Fluor Corp. recently announced that it has been selected by Marathon Petroleum Company LLC, a subsidiary of Marathon Oil Corp., to provide front-end engineering design, or FEED, services for a proposed $2.2 billion expansion at the company's Garyville, La. refinery. Marathon's final investment decision for the expansion is subject to completion of the FEED and receipt of applicable permits.

Fluor's services will include front-end engineering for new processing units, as well as utilities and off sites. The contract will be performed over a 12-month period and executed in Fluor's office in Houston with support from the company's global engineering centers.

Decatur Gets New Steel Facility

A high-tech steel fabrication plant for Landmark Structures will be the centerpiece of the 400-acre Decatur Landmark Industrial Park. The new facility will be used to fabricate steel-tank sections.

Landmark selected Plano-based Hill & Wilkinson Ltd. as the design-builder for the new facility. The plant, which will consolidate current steel-plate fabrication operations and includes a plasma table, new plate rollers and full bay bridge cranes, is scheduled for completion in the spring.

Decatur is in Wise County 30 mi. north of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area and is near IH-35 and Alliance and D/FW International airports. According to the Decatur Economic Development Corp., the town is becoming a hub for manufacturing and distribution centers.

HASEN Construction Starts Up

David Hasenzahl, son of Jim Hasenzahl, owner of Fort Worth-based Haws & Tingle, along with two other former Haws & Tingle employees, has spun-off and created a new company solely owned by David Hasenzahl. The new company name is HASEN Construction Services and is expected to fill the void created by Haws & Tingle's recent bankruptcy filing. HASEN has picked up new projects including the Grand Prairie Fire Station No. 4 project and a city of Dallas Parks and Recreation project.