Hevi-Duty

ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin

Hevi-Duty Electric Co

200 Hart Street

1953

07 18 HEVI-DUTY ESTABLISHES WATERTOWN PLANT

Announcement was made today of plans to open a new industry in Watertown in the fall which will employ between 100 and 150 persons. The announcement was made by Harold E. Koch, an official of the Hevi Duty Electric Company of Milwaukee, following reports of a new industry which have been in circulation here in recent weeks. Negotiations have now been completed. Mr. Koch said that the company will take over the building of the Perfection Table Slide Manufacturing Company at 200 Hart Street and convert it into a plant for the making of electrical transformers for electric furnaces which his company manufactures.

07 18 PERFECTION PLANT SOLD TO HEVI-DUTY

11 19 Announcement was made by Mrs. Muriel Thauer, president of Perfection Table Slide, that negotiations have been completed for the sale of its equipment and inventor to the Watertown Table Slide Corporation and for the sale of the Perfection factory building and real estate to Hevi Duty Electric Company of Milwaukee. It is expected that the Hevi Duty Company will take possession before the end of this summer and thus bring to Watertown a substantial new industry.

1957

02 16 EXPANSION

Plans for a $75,000 addition to the plant of the Hevi-Duty Electric Co. at 304-308 Hart Street were announced today. The addition will extend west 66 by 316.5 feet, and north 68 by 231 feet, from the present plant. The application for a building permit was signed by Al Krause, local building contractor, acting as agent.

07 21 The Hevi-Duty Electric Co., operating plants in Milwaukee and Watertown, is playing an important part in bettering lighting controls at the nation's airports and has just been awarded a $757,000 contract for 47 new lighting substations by the Civil Aeronautics Administration. The newest type of regulators will permit operators in control towers to vary the brightness of lighting with ease, at the same time knowing from a control board whether the lights are operating at the proper level. As a result, safe landings can be assured despite inclement weather.

07 27 The Froedtert Corp. of Milwaukee today announced the purchase of about 25,000 shares of common stock of the Hevi-Duty Electric Co. of Milwaukee and Watertown. Froedtert Board Chairman Anthony von Wening said the purchase was the first step in the corporation's program of diversification through investments. He said the purchase was less than 10 per cent of Hevi-Duty's outstanding common stock, but it was understood it made Froedtert the large single stockholder of Hevi-Duty. Hevi-Duty, which was incorporated in Wisconsin in 1924, had net sales of nearly 11 million dollars in 1956. It produces electric furnaces, current regulators and transformers.

1958

10 15 Officials of the Hevi-Duty Electric Co. announced production of a new furnace for determination of the compression strength of coke and ore pellets at high temperatures. This furnace is the first commercially available machine which will accurately predict the strength of coke at the temperatures encountered in the tuyere zone or high temperature zone adjacent to it. This furnace fulfills a need that has long existed in every plant with a blast furnace or foundry, since tests previously used have shown little correlation between room temperature strengths of coke or ore and actual characteristics at furnace operating temperatures. WDT

1960

08 31 SALES AND ENGINEERING

Sales and engineering personnel of the Hevi-Duty Electric Company, a total of 70 persons, have taken up their quarters at the local facilities of the company. The Hevi-Duty plant and office is located in Hart Street. Approximately 40 engineers took up their quarters here on Monday and today the sales force, numbering 30 persons, moved in. Formerly the 70 were located at 30th and Burleigh Streets, Milwaukee. WDT

1961

02 26 The Hevi-Duty Electric Co., a division of Basic Products Corporation, Milwaukee, has broadened its export market with its first shipment of a large gas-fired conveyor furnace to the Orient. The 32-ton furnace is being transported by rail from Watertown to the port of Baltimore, and shipped from there to the Philippines. It will be used by Inter-Island Gas Service Company, Manila, for heat treatment of metals under a licensing agreement with Pressed Steel Tank Company, Milwaukee. WDT

04 07 A record-sized “Clean-Line” heat-treating furnace, constructed with double chambers, has been built and shipped as a unit by the Hevi-Duty Electric Company, Watertown, for use in the processing of airplane parts. The fully automatic “Clean-Line” unit, so big it required a special rail car for shipment, is the largest in size ever constructed in one piece in the Hevi-Duty plant, although bigger furnaces have been field-erected in customers’ works. Hevi-Duty, a division of Basic Products Corporation, Milwaukee, used a 60-foot-long rail car to ship the equipment to its destination in Ohio. WDT

1962 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

03 02 The Hevi-Duty Electric Company today instituted, as part of its 50th anniversary celebration, a search for the oldest product of the company still usable. Hevi-Duty is a division of Basic Products Corporation. Elton E. Staples, Hevi-Duty president, said the company has posted a reward of 50 silver dollars which will go to the person who discovers the oldest product. This product probably will be a tube or muffle furnace, a crucible furnace, or a hot plate made by Hevi-Duty or its predecessor company, Electric Heating Apparatus Co., which was formed in 1912 in New York City. The company owning the oldest product found by Aug. 1, 1962, will receive, free of charge, a new Hevi-Duty unit having the same function as the older unit. The 50-dollar reward for the discovery of the oldest unit can be won by any person bringing to the attention of Hevi-Duty the product which is found to be the oldest still usable.. WDT

04 19 LAKE GENEVA PLANT

Basic Products Corporation has commissioned Derald M. West, architect of Lake Geneva, to design a new plant for its Hevi-Duty Electric Division in that city. The Watertown plant will continue to operate here. Raymond G. Nordstrom, Basic Products vice president in charge of the Lake Geneva and Watertown Hevi-Duty divisions, made the announcement today. Nordstrom said the 30,000 square foot plant is to be completed this fall. The Hevi-Duty Electric Division, formed last month, will manufacture and market small transformers. WDT

12 21 HEVI-DUTY CO COMBINED WITH LINDBERG ENGINEERING CO

Basic Products Corp., parent company of the Hevi-Duty Heating Equipment Company of Watertown, has reached an agreement to acquire the Lindberg Engineering Co., a major producer of heat treating equipment and of ceramic products. Basic will pay more than 3 million dollars cash for Lindberg’s assets. Lindberg’s annual sales volume currently is at a 13 million dollar rate, representing approximately a 20 per cent increase in annual sales volume for Basic Products. WDT

1963

01 05 BOEING AIRCRAFT CORP

A huge furnace which travels on rails to heat treat spars for helicopter rotor blades has been delivered to Vertol Division, Boeing Aircraft Corp., by Hevi-Duty Heating Equipment Co. The 41-foot-long furnace travels on more than 100 feet of rail to treat spars on two work platforms. The special order installation was the result of a $200,000 contract awarded Hevi-Duty. Included in the installation are the “traveling bell” furnace containing the electric heating elements, two 35-foot-long work platforms, two corrugated metal retorts which cover the work platforms to seal in the nitrogen atmosphere used in the processing, and electrical power supplies. WDT

10 03 EXPANSION FOR R&D

Most of the nearly 5,000 square feet of additional floor space being added to the plant of Hevi-Duty Heating Equipment Division, Basic Products Corporation, will be utilized by the company’s research and development staff, Elton Staples, president, said today. Construction got underway early in the fourth week of September, with the work being done by Oliver Construction Company of Oconomowoc. WDT

11 21 NATIONAL AERONAUTICAL AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

A multi-range tube furnace for experimentation in the heat treating of space age metals has been shipped to the National Aeronautical and Space Administration [NASA] by Hevi-Duty Heating Equipment Company of Watertown, a metallurgical division of Basic Products Corporation. The furnace provides controlled operating temperatures over a range of 200 to 3,300 degrees Fahrenheit. It is provided with atmosphere generating equipment which allows the introduction of a wide range of gases into the heating chamber. WDT

12 09 ITALIAN NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY

A special 2-furnace installation for the Italian Nuclear Energy Agency which will be operated, serviced and maintained completely by robot and mechanical manipulation has been designed and built here by Hevi-Duty Heating Equipment Company. The furnaces and an associated atmosphere generator were built for the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, Atomic Energy Division, under contract to the Italian National Committee for Nuclear Energy. They will perform an essential role in a remote nuclear fuel reprocessing and refabrication plant now under construction in southern Italy. WDT

12 20 FOREIGN ORDERS

Foreign aid financed orders for $4,270 worth of electrical equipment sold in Pakistan have been placed with Basic Products Corporation’s Hevi-Duty Heating Equipment Division in Watertown, according to the Agency for International Development. The Pakistan purchases are financed under the U.S. economic development program in that South Asian nation, including provision for import of goods and materials needed for commercial and industrial development. WDT

1964

02 17 MEYER NAMED GENERAL MANAGER

Chester E. Meyer, vice president in charge of manufacturing for Hevi-Duty Electric Company, has been named general manager of Hevi-Duty, succeeding Elton E. Staples, who has been named to a new position with Basic Products Corporation, parent company of the local concern. Meyer has been associated with Hevi-Duty since 1952. He was permanently assigned to the local plant in 1960. He is married and has three children, Mirian, 16; Kristine, 13, and William, 6. The family resides in the town of Delafield, near Pewaukee Lake. WDT

10 24 “TOOLS FOR FREEDOM” SHIPMENT TO TURIN, ITALY

When the nuclear-powered S. S. Savannah leaves New York harbor Nov. 3 on its maiden voyage, a laboratory furnace made in Watertown will be one of the items in its cargo. The furnace, made by Hevi-Duty Heating Equipment Company here, a division of Basic Products Corporation, is part of a “Tools for Freedom” shipment to Turin, Italy. Early next year students from the developing countries will begin using the furnace and other tools donated by American businesses at the new Turin International Center for Advanced Technical and Vocational Training. WDT

12 09 125-FOOT-LONG HEAT TREATING FURNACE

Officials of the Hevi-Duty Heating Equipment Company today were pondering means of shipping the 125-foot-long heat treating furnace built at the plant in Watertown. The furnace, built in sections, will be shipped on a combination of lowboy trailers and railroad flat cars. A photo of the huge furnace, largest ever turned out here, appeared in the Daily Times on Wednesday. Hevi-Duty, a metallurgical division of Basic Products Corporation, Milwaukee, says it’s the biggest roller hearth furnace ever manufactured by the company, and also the first of its type built here. It will be shipped to the Stellite Division of Union Carbide Corporation at Kokomo, Ind. WDT

1965

09 29 LARGEST OVEN EVER MADE

The largest oven ever made by Hevi-Duty Heating Equipment Company soon will be on its way to the Draper Corporation of Hopedale, Mass. It is a two and a half ton electric, vertical quench oven. The oven is designed to do “solution heat treating” and “aging” of aluminum castings. Five thousand pounds of castings are loaded on a built in, hydraulically operated, elevator and raised into the oven. When solution heat treating, the aluminum castings (about 5,000 pounds) are loaded onto a hydraulic elevator, heated to 1,000 degrees. WDT

10 08 SOLA BASIC INDUSTRIES

Basic Products Corp., of which the HeviDuty Heating Equipment Co. of Watertown is a part, disclosed in Milwaukee that it plans to change its name to Sola Basic Industries, pending stockholders’ approval at their annual meeting Oct. 28. The proposal came in the company’s annual report, which showed that earnings in the fiscal year ended July 31 were 40 percent higher than fiscal 1964. Sales climbed 11 per cent. WDT

1966

06 14 STRIKE ENDS

The strike at Hevi-Duty has ended. Work at the local plants, which have been shut down due to the strike since June 1, will resume on Monday. Agreement on a contract was reached in Milwaukee Friday afternoon in the office of William Kurtz, federal mediator. The agreement was reached at a negotiating session between representatives of Local 494, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and a committee representing Hevi-Duty. Approximately 450 workers were involved in the workout. WDT

1968

09 20 TWO STORY BUILDING TO BE ADDED

1969

02 28 JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT COMPANIES

Junior Achievement Companies One Hundred Dollar Club

05 03 25,000 sq. ft. NEW BUILDING

A building with 25,000 square feet of floor space will be erected by Hevi-Duty Electric to replace the temporary rented facilities located at O’Connell and North Water Streets, formerly owned by and occupied by the Otto Biefeld Company. Transformers are manufactured in the former Biefeld Company building. The decision to erect the building was announced here yesterday by Frank H. Roby, president of Sola Basic Industries. Plans for a new building have been underway for a long time. Mr. Roby yesterday reaffirmed plans to build the structure.

07 25 AUSTRALIAN VISITOR

James W. Barnett, managing director of Sola Basic Australia Ltd., Clayton, Victoria, Australia, is visiting the Watertown group operations of Lindberg Hevi-Duty. Met with Robert Hartwig, furnace tester at the Watertown plant.

07 30 BUILDING TO BE CONSTRUCTED AT 1202 WAKOTA

Street View of this location: https://goo.gl/maps/5m9TmQBrg6vCi4qD8. Became location of Rock River Gymnastics.

09 13 NEW BUILDING CONSTRUCTION BEGINS

Hevi-Duty Electric, division of Sola Basic Industries, Inc., will begin construction of a building with 25,000 square feet of floor space in 30 to 45 days, an official of the firm reports. The building will be erected on property Hevi-Duty owns on Hart Street, directly south of the Hart Street plant. When the building is completed, operations of this division now in the former Biefeld property on North Water Street will be moved to the new building.

09 13 MOVE TO WAKOKA & WILLIAM STREETS

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new building to be constructed by Hevi-Duty Electric, division of Sola Basic Industries will be held Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 1 p.m. The building will be built on property Hevi-Duty owns at the intersection of Wakoka and William streets. When the building is completed, operations of this division now in the former Biefield property on North Water Street will be moved to the new structure.

09 17 NEW BUILDING GROUNDBREAKING

Ground was broken Tuesday afternoon for the new building of 24,000 square feet which is to be erected by Hevi-Duty Electric, division of Sola Basic Industries, Inc.

The building will be located on land south of the Hart Street Hevi-Duty plant which Hevi Duty acquired a few years ago.

Representatives of industry and business were present for the ceremony. Directors and officers of both the Watertown Area Chamber of Commerce and the Watertown Association of Commerce Promotive Corporation were present.

When the new building is completed and ready for occupancy in January of next year employees of the electrical division now working in rented quarters at O'Connell and North Water Streets will be transferred to the new building.

Brief remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony were made by Harry Eikenberry. head of the Sola Basic electric. division.

Eikenberry, located at the division's headquarters at Goldsboro, N.C., explained the necessity for setting up a plant in Goldsboro for the electrical division. At the time the plant was opened in Goldsboro, most of the electrical division's operations in Watertown were ended. The remaining portion of the division continued to operate in the rented quarters, and the entire Hart Street facilities were turned over to the Hevi Duty furnace division.

Eikenberry said the move to Goldsboro was made because medium powered transformers were to be introduced by the electrical division, and the plant was located in Goldsboro to insure an adequate supply of labor.

Up to now, Hevi-Duty had leased 13,000 square-foot a facility in Watertown at 118 [the “Biefeld building at 116-118] North Water Street, which will be vacated. The new plant is located at the corner of Williams and Wakoka streets. Hevi-Duty Division had been headquartered in Milwaukee, prior to the Goldsboro move in 1967. The division also has a production facility in Lake Geneva.

10 25 CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE WATERTOWN COMMUNITY CHEST FUND DRIVE

Contributions for the Watertown Community Chest fund drive from the Hevi-Duty Co. Presented to Fred Grimm, co-chairman of the fund drive, by Terry Pisarik

11 21 NEW BUILDING FOUNDATION PREPARED

At 1202 Wakota St, on land south of the Hart Street Hevi-Duty plant which Hevi Duty acquired a few years earlier

1970

07 17 NEW HEVI-DUTY ELECTRIC PLANT

08 12 CIVIL DEFENSE DISASTER DRILL

Mock explosion at Lindberg Hevi-Duty resulted in simulated injuries to 30 young persons, treated at the scene and then transported to Watertown Memorial Hospital.

10 24 JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT

Greg Kottwitz, (standing), president of the J. A. Company, Minicom, sells the first share of stock of the newly formed company to C. E. Meyer, vice president of the sponsoring firm, Lindberg Hevi-Duty.

Other newly elected officers of the J. A. Company are Mike Shackley, vice president of manufacturing, Katie Bloor, vice president of sales, Gwen Borck, secretary, and Judy Sprangers, treasurer. Lindberg Hevi-Duty employees acting as advisors are Chuck Roberts, Mel Scheid and Alice Uttech.

This is the seventh consecutive year a Junior Achievement company has been sponsored by Lindberg Hevi-Duty.

12 12 JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT

MINICOM, a Junior Achievement Company sponsored by Lindberg Hevi-Duty, is engaged in manufacturing three products, a phone companion, trunk straps and gold anodized hangers.

Officers shown with C. E. Meyer, vice-president and general manager of Lindberg Hevi-Duty.

Judy Sprenger, treasurer, Anne Bruce, vice-president of sales, and Gwen Borck, secretary.

1993

02 09 PLANT AND MANUFACTURING IMPROVEMENTS

Lindberg, a unit of General Signal, plans to spend more than $1.1 million on plant and manufacturing improvements in Watertown this year. Malcolm “Mac” Moore, vice president and general manager of the Watertown plant, said a restructuring of the facility will enhance the firm’s position as a leading manufacturing of heat processing equipment. “We are making a major investment in and commitment to our Watertown operations,” Moore said. “In today’s intensely competitive economic climate, our customers expect the highest quality, fastest delivery and, most importantly, the best value. “We at Lindberg are taking specific steps to ensure continued fulfillment of these expectations,” he added. WDT

1997

05 04 ANNUAL RECOGNITION DINNER

The annual Lindberg recognition dinner was held Wednesday at Home Plate Inn in Lebanon. Two new members, Richard J. Kawka and James W. Joseph, joined the club. Those with at least 30 years of service are Fred Busier, Curtiss Buss, Tim Buss, Harley Draeger, Ruth Flath, Dennis Fosdal, Tom Gillis, Ruth Hartwig, Robert Haseleu, Richard Hinze, Melvin Kasten, Gene Kessler, Charles Lazzara, Joseph Schiferl, James Werner and Earl Zimmerman . Members with at least 35 years of service are Ervin Bankert, John Bill, Joyce Engelbrecht, Donald Grulke, Donald Hartwig, Jerry Hilfiker, William Kaercher, Carl Krueger, Ludwig Porzky, James Propp, Roger Rowlands, Gerald Sell and Russel Tesch. Members with at least 40 years of service are Robert Carter, Elmer Christian, Wieda Christian, Joe Cuccia, Fred Grulke, Shirley Grulke, David Kube, Philip Lenius and Steve Perez. WDT

1999

05 04 COUPLE EMPLOYED 86 YEARS (combined)

A Watertown woman who retired from a local company Friday was whisked to work on her last day in a limousine, a tribute to her 44 1/2 years of service. Wieda Christian of Watertown now joins her husband, Elmer Jr., in retirement from Lindberg/Blue M Electric. Together, the pair worked for the same company a total of 86 years. Married just two weeks after 18-year-old Wieda started work at the former Hevi-Duty Electric, she took a day off for a honeymoon and then went back to the plant. Her husband began work at the plant a year later. He retired last year. WDT

2004

12 15 CONSOLIDATION RESULTS IN LAYOFFS

Lindberg Industrial Furnaces Blue M Electric will be consolidating with three other similar businesses in the country, all owned by SPX Corp., into one business causing about half the employees at the Watertown plant to be laid off by the end of the year. Lindberg is a unit of SPX Corp. headquartered in Muskegon, Mich. Lindberg makes and sells industrial ovens and environmental thermal shock chambers. SPX Corp. has more than 75,000 industrial furnace installations worldwide and equipment with extensive replacement parts inventory in the industry. WDT

2014

02 20 FORMER LINDBERG HEVI-DUTY BUILDING DETERIORATING;

BECOMING AN EYESORE

Watertown city officials have reached out to the owners of the former Lindberg Hevi-Duty building in the hopes of starting the process to either refurbish or tear down the building to make way for redevelopment. The building has been vacant for more than 10 years and is deteriorating at a rapid rate. Lindberg Hevi-Duty went out of business approximately 15 years ago. The company produced industrial furnaces. In its wake, Lindberg left behind a 100,000-square-foot building at 304 Hart St., right in the heart of the city. WDT

2023 <> PERSPECTIVE

I believe it sits empty. The last thing to occupy was Gymnastics, but it had a flood and things were ruined and they closed, back in 2017ish. Prior to that General Signal had relocated a plant and many of its employees from Blue Island, IL to use the facility. From 1993ish until 2002ish, Blue M Electric manufactured/assembled equipment there. General Signal sold Blue M and Lindberg to SPX, and not long after Blue M was moved to Williamsport, PA and Lindberg Hevi Duty was split and sent to NC and MI The Blue M Electric sign still hangs on the wall by the loading dock doors. I was fortunate to have worked for Blue M customer service for most of the time they were in WI, until they were sent from Watertown but in the main office across the street, but spent time in that building tracking orders or getting updates. A majority of my family worked for Hevi Duty at one point in time. It was a wonderful asset to those in the area for employment. - Chris Krueger Delgado

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