GCU-TODAY-APR2012 - page 11

P11
April 2012
Contractor’s fingerprints
are all over the new GCU
T
here’s something
Butch Glispie
wants you to
know, in addition to the fact that he doesn’t spell
it “Gillespie.”
He wants you to know how much he loves GCU.
“I wake up every morning and can’t wait to get here,”
says Glispie, 60, the owner of Pono Construction
in Glendale.
In some respects, that’s what you’d expect to hear
from a contractor juggling multiple building projects
on campus. GCU has been good business for Pono,
and Glispie is glad to have that business in a
challenging economy.
But there’s more to it for Glispie, a graduate of South
Mountain High School in Phoenix who attended
Arizona State University. He has built everything from
Arizona mobile-home parks to Beverly Hills custom
homes in his career, and he says GCU has been unique.
“The team concept here isn’t the norm, and that makes
it so much fun for us,” he says. “We try to bring a little
more into each project that we’ve done here. You
usually don’t get that opportunity. You build one thing
and that’s it.
“Each time, it gets a little better.”
Glispie’s work can be seen all over the west Phoenix
campus, starting with the North Rim Apartments, built
more than 25 years ago. This year, Pono is putting up
two residence halls, a parking garage and a four-story
College of Arts and Sciences building that Glispie says
has been the company’s most challenging structure yet.
The number of projects and the speed involved
in their execution could be stressors, but Pono’s
steady approach helps keep the work – and emotions
– under control.
“People do make mistakes,” Glispie says, “but our
goal is to help them and not holler at them. Our
subcontractors love working with us. I like to be more
of a cheerleader, and we work hard to avoid conflict.”
Want proof? When Pono served as title sponsor of
the recent Run to Fight Children’s Cancer 5K and 10K
races on campus, its subcontractors kicked in $10,000
to the cause. And Glispie, who’s in excellent shape, ran
in the 5K.
“That was a great opportunity to give something
back, and we had a great time,” he says of the event,
which raised more than $40,000 for the Children’s
Cancer Network.
Bob Machen
, GCU’s senior vice president for
campus development, appreciates the ease of working
with Glispie.
“He’s such a smart contractor,” Machen says. “We can sit
down with him and in a couple of hours have an idea of
the cost and how long it will take. He really cares about
what he’s doing on this campus.”
With the abundance of work can come a surplus of
obstacles, according to Glispie.
“During a downturn, no one stocks materials, so you
need to think far enough ahead to get things when you
need them,” he says. “That’s a big challenge. If you’re
looking only to next week or next month, you’re dead.
You’ve got to be so much farther ahead.”
But when he pauses to survey all that he has helped put
in place, he’s pleased.
“You stand at the Arena and look back (north), and it’s
just incredible,” he says.
North Rim Apartments (1986)
Student Union (2003)
Hegel Hall (2003)
Education building (2010)
Canyon Hall (2010)
Prescott Hall (2011)
Camelback Hall (2012)
Sedona Hall (2012)
Arts and Sciences building (2012)
Camelback Road parking garage (2012)
Butch Glispie outside the new College of Arts
and Sciences building on campus.
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