October 14, 2004 – May 2, 2005
Chicago Architecture Foundation
Metzger Metals: Brian Metzger, field foreman, with Bandit; Jean Metzger, vice president and secretary, with Patch; Lisa Metzger, assistant vice president and office manager; Kelvin Metzger, president and treasurer; Kevin Metzger, assistant vice president and shop foreman.
Photographed at the Metzger Metals office, Racine
Metzger Metals
Forty-year veteran metal fabricator Kelvin Metzger was subcontracted by Bucacek Construction to develop the Racine Art Museum's steel structural system, using an amalgam of components from several existing buildings. Until the early 1980s, Metzger worked for a Racine-based fabrication company that ultimately succumbed to the industrial decline that plagued the area. At that time, he decided to go it alone and open up his own business. Almost every member of his family has worked for the business at one point or another.
The gut renovation of the Racine Art Museum was a welcome change for Metzger, who is frequently contracted to do metal railing and fence work on residential projects. As the Racine museum's steel fabricator, it was Metzger's job to interpret the original construction drawings and adapt the existing structure to meet the requirements of Brininstool + Lynch's new design.
I couldn't figure out the original drawings, where they had the original steel. So I got hold of an engineer friend. He had some old steel manuals—and he found out that back then steel mills like Bethlehem put the name of the company on their beams. The original drawings had either a symbol or the initials of the steel mill. Now, when you buy steel, it's called a double-wide flange or whatever. No matter what mill it comes from, they are all the same.
As a steel fabricator, most of the stuff we do gets buried, except for stairs and railings. My favorite detail on this building is the curtain wall in the back, where you can see the steel. You can start to fathom how it really comes together. Everything we did on that job was highly exposed. They didn't clad it with aluminum like they do on a lot of columns. —Kelvin Metzger