Throwback Thursday – Pioneer Screw & Nut Co.

For this week's Epstein Throwback Thursday we are taking a trip back to September, 1965 for the opening of the modernist 65,000 square foot office, manufacturing and warehouse facility for Pioneer Screw & Nut Co. Located at 2700 York Road in Elk Grove Village, Illinois this Epstein designed and engineered building was built on, what was in '65, a rural 5-acre site. The Pioneer also featured a fully air-conditioned mid-century modern office box that was constructed using a bronze-glass curtainwall.

Epstein's design team also planned the facility so that it could be easily expanded in the very near future as Pioneer's business, manufacturing a complete line of industrial fasteners for household appliances, cars and communications equipment, was booming. This planning foresight was almost immediately implemented by Howard and Robert Hirsch, the owners of Pioneer, three years later when then asked Epstein to complete the design of a 44,000 square foot manufacturing/warehouse addition.

And further more in a sign that the Hirsch brothers were very pleased with our services, in 1979 we were once again called back to design a 10,000 square foot office addition that included administrative space, a laboratory and expanded conference/employee facilities.

This Pioneer facility still exists and being used to manufacture industrial fasteners. The building also looks very much like it did back in '65, that is, except for the numerous industrial and commercial developments now surrounding the site. The only thing that doesn't remain is the Pioneer name. In 1992 Pioneer was acquired by the Wisconsin-based Medalist Industries and then in '96 Medalist became part of Illinois Tool Works and thus creating the current name, ITW-Medalist.