January 26, 2010

Hamilton-Halton Construction Association hall of fame inductee helped launch group

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

Industry veteran Don Stewart, who played a pivotal role in establishment of the Mechanical Contractors Association of Hamilton (MCAH), is being inducted into the Hamilton-Halton Construction Association’s (HHCA) construction hall of fame.

“It took a while to get the organization off the ground,” recalls the 85-year-old Stewart, who got the ball rolling in 1965 with a letter to plumbing and mechanical contractors in the Hamilton area.

“For the first few months, the eight founding members got together in a local contractor’s office. That’s where the first constitution and bylaws were written and where the group adopted what was to become the association’s official name.

“From there, we progressed to meeting in a little office off the main waiting room of the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo railway station. When we were feeling flush, we went to the Wentworth Arms and did our business in the pub.”

Ultimately, in July 1967, the board of directors of the fledgling organization “went out on a limb” and approved a five-year lease for space at the Alexandra Square building on James Street South.

The rest is history. The association morphed over the years from a loosely knit group of individuals with a mutual interest in improving the lot of mechanical contractors working in the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors to a thriving, professionally managed organization.

“I believe that the association’s success has had as much to do with esprit de corps as anything else,” says Stewart, who twice served as president and was part of the committee charged with building Construction House, the current home of both MCAH and HHCA.

Stewart, who grew up in England, completed a five-year apprenticeship in heating, ventilation and air conditioning, after serving as a radio operator in the Second World War. He came to Canada in 1957 after working as a design engineer on projects throughout the United Kingdom.

“I came here in the hopes of learning something about air conditioning systems for highrise buildings, which was a new technology in the U.K. at the time,” he recalls. “I only expected to be here for five years.”

But one thing led to another. By 1959, Stewart, who came to Canada with construction giant Comstock and initially worked in that company’s Toronto office, decided to make his permanent home here.

He subsequently moved to Hamilton, becoming manager of the mechanical division in Comstock Canada’s local office.

In 1965, Stewart started up the mechanical division of Aldershot Industrial Ltd. Five years later, he set up his own firm, Robert D. Stewart Mechanical Contracting Ltd. High-profile clients included Stelco.

Stewart, president of the Mechanical Contractors Association of Ontario from 1990 to 1992, sold the company in 1990 after a career spent overseeing major projects in Canada and abroad.

But he remained active in mechanical contracting industry circles for some time thereafter.

“I only started putting my feet up in recent years,” he says.

Stewart was nominated for induction into the hall of fame by the Mechanical Contractors Association of Hamilton, which now represents 60 companies.

The association cited Stewart’s contributions over the span of his career to the development and betterment of the local construction industry, his leadership abilities and entrepreneurial spirit.

“With seemingly endless energy, unflappable will and determination, Don has been a consistent leader in our local construction industry since his arrival in Canada,” the association said.

Stewart will be inducted during the Hamilton-Halton Construction Association’s 90th annual general meeting and dinner Feb. 4.

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