Masonry Magazine March 1974 Page. 32
The MCAA Executive Board gathers in the Registration Lobby following the Monday morning Executive Meeting. Every Officer and Regional Vice President was in attendance when President Soloff called the meeting to order at 8:00 Α.Μ.
'74 Convention Report
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terials and manpower management. It highlighted the skill of the masonry craftsman who could create in a single operation the structure, enclosure and finish."
Jones felt that panelization is yet another important change in masonry technology. "It too has played a role in bringing us to 1974 as an industry that is in transit," he said. "We are not what we were fifteen years ago. What we will become in the next few years probably has not yet been fully determined."
Donald Lampus of the National Concrete Masonry Association presented a progress report on the block industry. Through the use of color slides, he graphically depicted the enormous strides being made in building with block-thanks to the almost infinite number of design variations and customized units. Architects now have far more leeway in designing with block, and Lampus expects the industry to experience dramatic growth.
He pointed out that the NCMA represents more than 80% of the block-making capacity in this country, and that "we have been working hard to help expand existing markets for concrete masonry and build new ones. Your business of laying block and our members' business of making block are interdependent."
Lampus related that the concrete block industry has experienced exceptional growth, producing close to 4 billion units in 1973. "We expect to surpass that record in 1974," he said, "making ours the largest masonry manufacturing industry in the world.
He predicted that the largest potential for the use of concrete block will be in masonry wall-bearing structures for the rest of the 1970's. "This system," he said, "which involves repetitive floor-wall construction, will result to 10 to 20 percent savings in time and money over concrete or steel frames. It gives a building which is enclosed for other trades to work in with a floor a week on large structures being easily attained."
But the up-and-coming star is customized masonry, according to Lampus. "Paul Rudolph is the creator of this very important entry of concrete masonry into the exterior cladding of a structure," he pointed out. "All kinds of shapes, sizes, colors and textures can be designed by an architect, and the units can be produced locally to his specifications on high-speed block machines. Or he can use an off-the-shelf unit such as the split-fluted block to get very beautiful walls with color, texture and design at a very low cost.
"No longer does block have to hide behind another material," Lampus said. "It now has its own class and competes with marble, decorative concrete, high-class pre-cast units, and is used on prestigious buildings all over the
United States."
Thomas Murphy of the BM & PIU assured the mason contractors in the audience that bricklayer productivity would keep pace with modern building techniques. He commended the idea of pre-job apprentice training as well as "Operation Transition" for returning servicemen as the "right cooperative effort" between unions and management, and called for mason contractors to join the rank-and-file in a "forward-looking attempt to promote masonry and protect our way of earning a living."
Murphy disclosed that the BM & PIU is launching a series of seminars for its business agents "to help them do a better job of promoting masonry." He also referred to the creation of the International Masonry Institute as "one of the greatest things our industry has accomplished."
Leo Nazdin of the Laborers' International Union completed the Tuesday panel of speakers with a no-nonsense discussion of the problems confronting unions and management in the construction field and urged continuing understanding and cooperation.
The Annual Meeting was held on Thursday morning, February 28. Elected President of MCAA was Charles Velardo of Newton Highlands, Mass. Elected to serve with him were Robert Ebeling, Romeo, Mich., Vice President, and Eugene George, Kitchener, Ont., Canada, Secretary. Robert Harrison of Mount Prospect, III., was reelected Treasurer.
Newly elected Regional Vice Presidents were Mack H. Pettit, Spartanburg, S.C., Region B; Louis J. Helbert, Jr., Fort Collins, Colo., Region F: Oscar F. Person, Burlingame, Calif., Region H, and R.E. "Bob" Beaupre, Burnaby, B.C., Canada, Region 1.
Regional Vice Presidents reelected were Anthony Zotollo, Great Neck, N.Y., Region A; Robert Tubesing, New Berlin, Wis., Region C; Roy Elam, St. Louis, Mo., Region D: Justin Breithaupt, Shreveport, La., Region E; and William "Nels" Smith, Portland, Ore., Region G.
Various changes in the MCAA constitution which had been presented by the Constitution & Bylaws Committee at the November 17, 1973 Executive Board Meeting were offered to the membership for consideration. The changes as presented by the committee were unanimously approved.
Following the Annual Meeting, President Soloff administered the oath of office to all newly elected officers and Regional Vice Presidents, and turned the gavel over to the newly elected President, Charles Velardo.
The Annual Banquet was held in the Convention Center of the Las Vegas Hilton on Thursday evening, with the various officers being presented special pins commemorating their service with MCAA. Immediate Past-President (Continued on page 34)
masonry
March, 1974