Beacon Metals
Salt Lake City

Helping Ensure the Safety of Buildings

by Brad Fullmer

In more than 40 years of business in the Intermountain region, Beacon Metals has evolved from a company that was mainly a window and door distributor, to one that supplies and installs a host of key building products, from doors and hardware to security and fire-rated items.

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“We’re a small family company that began supplying commercial hardware and door frames, and over 40 years it has evolved into different departments and areas of focus,” says Chad Riches, sales manager. “Our main business is our contract department – working with large and small contractors in competitive bid situations.”

Beacon was founded in 1966 with three primary departments – contracts, windows, and a service counter, according to Jim Butler, company vice president. Over the years, the firm expanded its operations to include a door and frame center, a security center, and a dedicated department for LDS Church projects.

In fact, Beacon’s expertise in providing and installing secure, fire-resistant doors and door frames, along with accompanying hardware and security features, has evolved greatly in the past decade, especially since the Columbine High School shootings in April 1999.

“We’re involved with life safety, with fire rated doors, with doors that are totally secure,” says Jim Butler, vice president of Beacon Metals. “Columbine had a big impact on our industry. Since then, they’ve developed a lockset that locks door from within. It has driven the industry to design a whole new function for a lock where for lock downs you flip a switch and all exterior doors lock.”

“We can be a large part of the safety issues on a project,” adds Riches. “(Door and window) openings provide security and safety for occupants within the building. We’re a small part of the contract, but we can be a large part of the functionality of a building. We can be a real problem, or a real life saver.”

Butler says Beacon’s ability to provide these types of security and access control devices to buildings, whether it’s a school or church facility, “brings real purpose to what we do.”

Beacon’s security center division has had to adapt in recent years, especially with the enhanced integration of electrical systems and the need for precise controls.

“We help architects and owners integrate those types of securities and access controls into the door,” says Riches. “We try to make architects happy by concealing everything within the door or frame, from bio metric to security cameras to push button locks.”

In addition, the firm has a specifications department that works with designers on writing certain specs for various projects.

“Our spec writing service works with architects and helps them put their specifications in,” says Riches. “The thing we help architects with is a non-bias specification. We’ll try to help them get the items they want, and open it up to a competitive bid situation. We’ll help owners and architects put in the spec that they want; we list different qualifications of each product.”

Another key division for Beacon that has grown substantially the past decade is the one that works specifically on LDS Church projects, which includes anything from new and remodeled chapels and meetinghouses to state-of-the-art temples and other special projects.

 To date, Beacon has provided its products and services to prominent LDS projects like the LDS Conference Center (the firm installed more than 1,300 doors throughout the building), the Nauvoo Illinois Temple, the Bountiful Utah Temple, and the Palmyra New York Temple, along with a host of others.

The firm also has a contract for the new LDS Church History Library to provide wooden doors, hollow metal doors and frames, and associated hardware.

Both Riches and Butler say the LDS Church is a good client, and that it’s been a fruitful relationship the past 10 years.

“They want a good price, they want speed, but they want the quality, too,” says Riches. “The contract is for companies to meet these qualifications and provide the best price and service.”

Other prominent local projects Beacon has acted as a subcontractor on includes the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake (more than 5,000 doors throughout the massive hotel), Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg; Palace Hotel and Gaming in California, The Gateway in Salt Lake, and the Huntsman Cancer Center Phase I and II at the University of Utah.

Company: Beacon Metals

Location: Salt Lake City

Year Founded: 1966

Markets Served: Commercial, Residential  

Recent Projects: LDS Church History Library, LDS Conference Center,
Grand America Hotel, Moran Eye Center, Huntsman Cancer Center Phase I and II.

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