Mary Meaux
The Port Arthur News
NEDERLAND — The Basco name has been associated with the city of Nederland and the construction of homes and commercial facilities for 64 years.
Basco Construction Inc. owner Irby Basco will continue the legacy laid down by his father, Lawrence Basco, with the opening of Basco Professional Plaza in May, 2010, at 1120 U.S. 69.
And like the two other, already constructed buildings in the plaza, the new facility will be “green” or energy efficient.
The foyer inside Basco’s office building, located at the center of the plaza, touts his motto in large letters — “the biggest risk is not taking one.”
Like the winding Pine Island Bayou once used by the elder Basco to transport lumber to a mill, the Basco family’s tale is one that can be considered the American Dream.
Seated in an office in the Nederland building that bears his name, Basco begins his tale with his father, Lawrence Basco.
As he speaks the staccato sounds of construction play in the background while employees work to erect the final section of what will soon become Basco Professional Plaza.
The elder Basco moved from Louisiana to Texas during World War II to work in a shipyard. At one point the Louisiana native was bringing in a whopping 35 cents per hour for 10 hour work days, and in a letter to his wife admitted he “must be rich.”
Basco decided to take a risk and get out of the then booming shipyard business. He partnered with a friend to open a lumber yard in 1946, and without today’s fast speed highways had the lumber floated down Pine Island Bayou to a sawmill. The long leaf yellow pine would sink, Irby Basco said, and earning the nickname of “sinker logs.”
The lumber was saved by a man who would free-dive into the waters to recover the wood which would then be brought to dry and become dry kiln lumber then brought back to the sawmill.
At some point the elder Basco bought out the partner's share of the business - another risk that paid off — and set out on his own.
“The first lumber yard dad built was right here in this parking lot,” he said from his office located across the highway from the Southeast Texas Regional Airport. “It had dirt floors and when it got too cold, he would build a fire. As the years progress a wood floor was built and butane heat was used.”
Soon the lumber yard was filled with business and between seven to nine trucks were used to deliver the wood which would be used to construct numerous homes and other buildings popping up in the Golden Triangle.
So when Lawrence Basco decided to take a bigger risk of entering the construction business and going head-to-head against the very companies buying his lumber he was told by some that “it will never work.”
Irby joined his father's team stacking lumber and other menial tasks earning about $15 a week, he said, and by the late 60s to early 70s contracting became a more important part of the family business. Insurance work came into play as the Basco company was brought in after a fire or disaster, he added.
Technology has changed very much for the construction field.
Before the mid-1970s, heavy lifting was done by hand then sometimes between 1975 or 1976 Basco Construction purchased their first forklift, he said.
Practically all of the lumber used to construct Yoman’s Addition came from Basco.
You cannot drive down any street in the city and see an addition not constructed with lumber from Basco, or in the Golden Triangle,” he said.
Basco was more apt to try new products and the company was one of the first in the area to use pneumatic nailing. The practice had been in place in Houston for several years.
“I told my dad we have to get one of those things,” he said. “I bought one then we got a job working on a bunch of tresses for a church. Without pneumatic nailing, tasks such as nailing fine pieces of trim are difficult because the wood would split.”
Basco also convinced his father of the need of yet another relatively new product — a computer.
While the elder Basco might not have thought too much of the computer at first, the joined in the enthusiasm soon after when through the technology of a program, was able to calculate intricate measurements for construction of a room.
Irby Basco has moved the business even farther into the technological age with the use of thermal imaging cameras that allow the user a way to penetrate walls without cutting the first board.
The new professional plaza will open in May.
mmeaux@panews.com
