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George Hall: Winner of ENR Legacy Award


Our founder, George W Hall, has been selected as this year's ENR Colorado Legacy Award winner! George meets the criteria for this award to a T, having left a long legacy of positive impact on the construction industry, the City of Greeley, and the State of Colorado at large.


George is a born businessman and leader. Raised in Brush, CO, he served with the US Army in the Korean War just out of college, then moved to Greeley in 1957. He and Hale Irwin Sr. established Hall Irwin Construction company in 1963, which quickly became successful through cycles of pipeline crews, self-performing landscaping, athletic field, and paving divisions, and our current model of CM-GC for vertical, land development, and water storage projects.


Perhaps the crowning jewel of George’s legacy at Hall Irwin was his venture into water storage. From a bird’s eye view, one can see that the landscape of Colorado’s Front Range is scattered with reservoirs large and small. Most of these are lined with soil-bentonite cutoff walls, aka, slurry walls. George first adapted this cost-effective application in 1990, at the Siebring Reservoir in northwest Greeley, from the cement cutoff wall systems used along the US coasts and in Europe since the 1950s. Hall Irwin has now installed miles of slurry walls for municipalities and private entities alike and has never failed a state leak test. Slurry walls are still acknowledged by the State of Colorado’s DWR and DRMS departments to be the best method for protecting Colorado’s groundwater, river flows, and water rights.


George paved the way for this new method of water storage during his 16 years as Mayor of the City of Greeley from 1965-81, a role he prized as a primary opportunity to give back to the city he and his wife, Betty, love so much. He signed multiple laws in support of the city’s water allocations and associated land annexations, and was presented with multiple awards by the citizens and businesses of Greeley for his work.


George counts his father and grandfather as heroes, who contributed to his legacy of success by passing on their never-give-up attitude. At 92 years old, he still comes into the Hall-Irwin office every day, enjoying conversations with the staff along with the hustle and bustle of his thriving, 60-year-old company, and we love seeing him.


Congratulations, George!


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