Latrobe Construction selling quarry
A Westmoreland County construction company that literally built the foundation of the region's highway transportation system is continuing its exit from the industry.
Latrobe Construction Co. notified the state Department of Labor and Industry this week that it plans to sell its Blue Stone Quarry in Ligonier Township.
The quarry has provided stone and asphalt for area road construction projects for half a century. The closing is expected to displace about 60 workers at the facility by Dec. 31, according to the company's notice to the state.
In addition to the quarry closing, the road construction division of the firm, founded during the 1920s in Latrobe's 1st Ward, sold the bulk of its road equipment in a two-day auction last month at its Marcia Street headquarters in Latrobe.
Under the direction of its late founder, Bruno Ferrari Sr., the company made its mark in the transportation industry throughout the 1900s by building large sections of many interstate and municipal highway projects.
Among those projects were vast stretches of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, including the Allegheny Tunnels in Somerset County; sections of Route 30 in Westmoreland County; the well-known Skyline Drive that traverses Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, and other highway projects in Virginia, Maine, and West Virginia, to name a few.
Attempts to reach company President Bruno Ferrari Jr. for comment on the pending sale of the quarry were unsuccessful Friday.
The quarry property in Ligonier Township consists of approximately 760 acres; it was purchased by the elder Ferrari in 1950. The firm owns another 1,500-plus adjoining acres in Derry Township.
It is unclear whether the pending sale will include the abutting acreage along Chestnut Ridge in Derry Township.
"Latrobe Construction Co. has agreed to sell certain assets relating to the ownership and operation of the quarry. This sale will constitute the permanent closing of Latrobe Construction Co.'s entire quarry and quarry-related operations," said the company's notification letter to the state.
The quarry workers, members of Construction, General Laborers and Material Handlers Union Local 1058, are in the final year of a three-year contract that expires June 30, 2002.
One worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said the workers were notified Wednesday when union officials posted a notice on the bulletin board in the plant.
"We knew they have been showing the plant to other people, but we're not sure what's going on officially yet. Bucky (Bruno Ferrari Jr.'s nickname) has said he wants to sit down with the union leadership soon and discuss what's going on, but right now we're not sure ... but we're still working," the employee said.
Because workers will lose their jobs, the notice of the closing is required under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
It could not be determined who is buying the quarry, which is located just off Route 30, near Longbridge. However, sources said the younger Ferrari has been attempting to sell the property since last spring.
"I know Bruno Jr. has had numerous other quarry operators locally and internationally in there through the facility since last spring. He's really been actively trying to sell it. ... He's in his 70s," said an industry source who wished to remain anonymous.
Bruno Ferrari Sr., who assisted in the development of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity Township and founded Latrobe Aviation Co., a fuel and service facility at the airport, died July 27, 2000, at age 98. The elder Ferrari helped to fund a $27 million cancer center at Latrobe Area Hospital in 1992.
Since the death of the elder Ferrari, his son has steadily scaled back the company's bidding on public highway projects, but the quarry has continued to operate. In fact, Latrobe city Administrator Rick Stadler said Latrobe Road Construction bid in May on the city's street repaving plan, but was unsuccessful.
"I've noticed they have scaled back in the last year, but there was a time years and years ago when they used to always get the paving contracts for streets in the area and construction at the airport," Stadler said.
"If they didn't build it ... they usually provided the stone. But after the big auction last month, I figured that was about it for the company," he added.
Dorothy Zello, a Ferrari family friend and former construction company employee, recalled the company's heyday.
"We were involved in so many highway projects I can't remember them all. He started the company with one dump truck," she said.
"But Bruno Sr. was really something else ... a real credit to this area, and everyone knew he built very good roads.
"He used to argue with a lot of project engineers that the asphalt specifications they listed were not good enough to stand up, and he knew his business so well that they'd usually go back and take a look at their own specs," Zello said.
"I remember once there was one government official who came in the office, arguing with Bruno about some project and demanded a telephone, threatening to call Gov. (John) Fine ... but Bruno outdid him.
"Bruno called out to the airport, asked for his airplane to be prepared and they flew to Harrisburg to meet that afternoon with Gov. Fine. Bruno knew Gov. Fine so well that he could arrange a meeting with him the same afternoon," she recalled.
Fine, a Luzerne County Republican, served as governor from 1951 to 1955.
