Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• International Bridge & Iron Co. 1992-2010
• Standard Structural Steel Co. 1959-1991

Use (Historic)

• Fabricated Metal Products
• Transportation

Largest Documented Workforce

Unknown.

Historic Narrative

The Standard Structural Steel Company was organized in Hartford by Louis Jaffer, a former design engineer for the American Bridge and Lackawanna Bridge Companies, and treasurer at the National Iron Works Company, in April 1919. The firm specialized in structural design and steel fabrication for work ranging from bridges and buildings, to ornamental iron stairs. The company initially occupied a shop and storage yard on Homestead Avenue in Hartford, and by the mid-1920s had moved to a new plant across town on Wethersfield Avenue. Jaffer died at the age of 40 on November 31, 1932, however, the Standard Structural Steel Company continued to operate under new management led by Isidore I. Bassevitch, who oversaw the company’s relocation from Wethersfield Avenue to Day Street in Newington, Connecticut in 1960, and managed the firm into the 1960s. The following year marked the arrival of Joseph Bachta, a talented civil engineer at Hartford’s City Iron Works Company who would go on to serve as general manager and assistant to the president of the Standard Structural Steel Company from 1961 until 1991. Bachta was an accomplished and celebrated engineer and his tenure with the Standard Structural Steel Company was marked by his innovative development of the first trapezoidal box girders used in bridge construction, as well as the completion of dozens of notable projects including the Gold Star Bridge, this extending between Groton and New London, Connecticut, and the Trident Submarine Base in Groton, Connecticut. In 1992, Joseph Bachta organized the International Bridge and Iron Company and acquired control of the Standard Structural Steel Company and its plant. International Bridge remained under Bachta’s leadership until the business was closed in 2010.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly four (4) adjoining primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1959

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former Standard Structural Steel Company plant is comprised of four adjoining blocks located on the north side of Day Street, roughly 900’ west of Day Street’s intersection with Main Street. The complex consists of a one-story, 160’ x 50’ office block; a two-story, 578’ x 238’ manufacturing building; a one-story, 308’ x 30’ storage block; and a two-story, 64’ x 48’ boiler plant. All four blocks are of steel-frame construction with concrete foundations, sheet metal walls, and flat roofs. The design of the office is particularly notable as its steel frame is located on the exterior of the building, perhaps as a nod to the business of the firm. Large ribbon windows extend along the exterior walls just below the roofline, interrupted only by periodic metal mullions or the building’s frame itself. The primary entry to the building is located on its south (façade) elevation and consists of a large concrete stair leading to a pair of metal and glass entry doors. Numerous large, roll-up style metal doors provide access to the manufacturing and ancillary blocks.

Exterior Material(s)

• Steel

Structural System(s)

• Structural Steel or Iron

Roof Form

• Flat

Roof Material

• Tar and Gravel

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Fair, Deteriorated

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair to deteriorated condition. Overall the plant appears structurally sound, however, much of the exterior metal sheathing shows signs of degradation.

Specific Location

One legal parcel (90 Day Street) totaling 5.1 acres located on the north side of Day Street, roughly 900’ west of Day Street’s intersection with Main Street.

Adjacent To

• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 04/003/000. / Link →

Acreage

5.1

Use (Present)

• Vacant

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

09/01/2015

Bibliography

1. List of Connecticut Manufacturers, 1922, 1924, 1930, 1932.
2. Directory of Connecticut State Manufacturers, 1936, 1939.
3. Industrial Directory of Connecticut, 1947.
4. Register of War Production Facilities in Connecticut, 1951.
5. Map of Hartford County, H & C.T. Smith, 1855.
6. Atlas of Hartford County, Beers, Baker & Tilden, 1869.
7. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1965.
8. Hartford City Directories, Various editions.
9. The Hartford Courant, 1921.
10. Hartford Business Journal, 2012.
11. Engineering News-Record, 2011.