About Whitewater Building Materials

Whitewater Building Materials was originally built from the foundation of two strong existing companies; Grand Junction Building Materials and Whitewater Sand & Gravel. 

In 1948, Maurice & Virginia Gardner moved to Grand Junction with their son, Edward and daughter, Arline. Maurice was working for another family business, Gardner Construction (comprised of Maurice's father, Harry and brother, Warren), and relocated to the Grand Valley with the promise of business with the construction of the east bound bridge on HWY 340 to the Redlands. Due to the demanding mix specifications needed, the local ready mix supplier at the time could not supply the bridge job with concrete. This allowed for Gardner Construction to set up its own portable plant and supply the concrete for this project. 

      The owner of the local plant, known as Grand Junction Building Materials (GJBM), met with Maurice and asked one day why he wasn't buying GJBM concrete for the HWY 340 project. Maurice explained the specification roadblock  and the owner stated that if his company would not sell concrete then he should sell the business to someone who would. A deal began to form and shortly after Maurice purchased the business. To supply their new concrete business, Grand Junction Building Materials purchased their sand and gravel from Whitewater Sand & Gravel, owned & operated by Doug Gay, and located just across the Gunnison River. Maurice's son Edward, went to work for Whitewater Sand & Gravel on weekends and summers in the 1950's, and continued while he was in high school and college. 

      In 1956, Maurice and Virginia Gardner purchased Whitewater Sand & Gravel after the death of Mr. Gay and operated the two companies separately until 1965 when they merged the two businesses forming Whitewater Building Materials. During this same time, Edward began to take a bigger roll within the company along with his wife Lois, and sister Arline. 

           The family continued to purchase surrounding properties like the north side of the Gunnison River (formerly the Coffman's ranch) in 1979 and in 1983 the property owned by the Forsgren family just west of Whitewater. In 2007 and 2008, Whitewater started production and extraction of the Coffman property in Whitewater, which continues to supply their ready-mix operation along with supplying Mesa County and surrounding areas with sand and gravel materials. 

       Today, Whitewater Building Materials is still owned and operated by the Gardner family. Currently the third generation, Ed's son Mark Gardner and Arline's two daughters, Rebecca Moran and Rheda Maslyk, run the thriving business and have even started to incorporate the 4 generation. In 2018, the company celebrated 70 years of locally owned business thanks to years of quality products and personalized customer service.  Whitewater has contributed to many local and out of town jobs like Vail Pass, I-70, CO 340 (bridge from Redlands to Grand Ave), CO 141 (bridge across the Gunnison River) , US HWY 50 (overpass at B 1/2 Road), and countless residential, commercial, & government jobs. 

     Whitewater strives to not only be the best supplier in the Valley, but to also be a strong supporter within their community. Whitewater supports local organizations like St. Marys. Hope west, Boy/Girl Scouts, Royce Hurst, 4-H, CMU, Partners, Hilltop and are members of CRMCA, CSSGA, WCCA, and the local Chamber of Commerce including Grand Junction, Palisade, and Fruita. 

Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce announced Whitewater Building Materials as the 2019's Business of the Year! 

2023 marks our 75th Anniversary of Family Owned and Operated Business. We would like to thank our customers for 75 prosperous years and look forward to many more!