1940s
Commitment and Growth
The 1940s were brimming with commitment and growth in the Charlotte business community as the firm completed its first commission—the five-story addition to Ivey’s Department Store. Military projects marked the firm’s beginning with the expansion of Fort Bragg. Totaling $1 billion in construction today, this massive undertaking led to an influx of additional military assignments that kept the firm busy around the clock. One of the most ingenious moments of this time occurred when Colonel Pease transformed a locomotive into the only “boiler” available to serve the new hospital under construction at Fort Bragg.
In 1941, George Rawlins joined the firm as chief engineer. Shortly after, the firm changed from a partnership to a corporation, with Colonel Pease as President, Rawlins as Executive Vice President and Stenhouse as Secretary/Treasurer. In 1947, J. Norman Pease, Jr. joined the firm as architectural designer. Leading into the 1950s, the staff grew rapidly to as many as 300 employees.
Cannon Mills (Kannapolis, NC) along with Myers Park High School and Vest Water Treatment Plant in Charlotte round out the firm’s early years.
