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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Garco buildings keep on trucking


Jeronimo Villalta drills holes into the framework for a new airplane hangar at Garco Building Systems in Airway Heights, Friday. For a client, the facility manufacturs the pieces, assembles them, then breaks them down and ships them to their location. 
 (Rajah Bose / The Spokesman-Review)

AIRWAY HEIGHTS – For 50 years, Garco Building Systems has been constructing steel buildings in the Inland Northwest. The buildings might not stay here – they have been shipped around the world – but the company is still making them in Airway Heights.

Garco Building Systems was founded by Wayne Garceau, a World War II pilot who returned to Spokane to build homes for veterans, according to the company literature. He later distributed arched rib timber buildings to farmers from a company called Timber-Rib.

The business thrived in Spokane until 1958, when the materials for the buildings were no longer available. Garceau decided to build steel structures and moved the business to 5503 E. Broadway Ave. He named his new business Garceau Steel Structures.

Shortly after the company opened, its 10 employees built 60 barracks to be sent to Alaska. They later built five buildings for the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds and a building that was sent to the Aleutian Islands. The building covered a hole dug deep into the ground, and a nuclear bomb was sent down the hole for a test detonation. The building survived the test.

The company was sold in 1974 to Gifford-Hill, and Garceau retired in 1976.

Garco outgrew its plant, and in 1978 the plant in Airway Heights opened.

The company’s legacy also includes Garco Construction, which split from the plant and has gone on to build such projects as the Spokane Veterans Arena. The two companies continue to do business with each another.

Ownership of the company has changed hands over the years, but the company, owned by the NCI Group, is still building steel structures today.

Garco Building Systems has built for the Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territory of Canada. The parts were shipped along ice roads. It’s also built for the McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

The company is currently building an airplane hangar for London Aviation at the Vancouver International Airport in British Columbia.

The firm, which is fully staffed at 155 employees, engineers and designs the buildings before shipping them off. The plant relies on a network of builders to piece the buildings together on location.

“We don’t put them up,” said Jeff White, company president.

The hangar under construction is large enough to house a 737 and several smaller airplanes.

“A lot of hangars leave the tail out,” said Lee Stanton, business development manager for the Canadian region. For the London Aviation hangar, the entire plane fits in the hangar; its roof is 68 feet tall.

To build such a large hangar without roof supports, designer Scott Curry came up with a truss that is 23 feet 3¾ inches tall and 154 feet, 7 inches long. The truss is so large it has to be laid flat in the plant. It weighs 83 tons and will take two 200-ton cranes to hoist it into place when it gets to Vancouver. It will be broken down into three sections and shipped in five separate loads, according to Stephen Warner, company traffic supervisor. The entire hangar will be shipped to Vancouver using 50 trucks.

“It’s a big erector set,” said Marvin Dyk, the project manager.

To mark the company’s 50th year, a celebration was held at the annual builder meeting at the Coeur d’Alene Resort.

Joanie Garvin, marketing coordinator, said she helped make a video of the history of the company and was honored to meet the family of Garceau and employees who had worked for the company for more than 30 years. The video was shown at the meeting.

“That evening was just magical,” she said.

For now, she is busy planning a large company picnic in July to celebrate the company’s milestone. The picnic will have a 1950s theme, complete with a costume contest and cars from the era.