Throwback Thursday – Rival Pet Foods

This week's Epstein Throwback Thursday profile takes us back to April, 1971 for the opening of the Rival Pet Foods Office and Processing Facility in Bridgeview, Illinois. For this project Epstein helped evaluate a number of potential sites for Rival by performing a study that took into account cost, taxes, foundation conditions, availability of water and utilities, and access to rail. Rival's owners used our report to select this 14.5 acre Bridgeview site, which is now located just west of Toyota Park, the home of the Chicago Fire professional soccer team.

This 152,000 square foot Epstein designed and engineered canned pet food production plant included a 15,000 office/laboratory, 20-foot clear height food preparation and processing areas, refrigerated rooms and warehouse space. Epstein's industrial process group also partnered with Rival's in-house engineering staff to plan and design the entire process areas, refrigerated rooms and storage spaces.

Epstein's 30 year relationship with Rival led to us being asked to design this new steel framed facility located at 7830 W. 71st St. which features exterior metal and masonry panels to replace the Art Deco facility we completed for them in 1940, a building that is located at 4500 South Tripp Avenue in Chicago.

This Bridgeview facility is still being utilized although not by Rival, who were purchased by Nabisco in the 80s and then phased out. A company called Nielson Bainbridge, a framing and framing products company, now produce their museum quality foam mounting boards out of this facility.