‘I’ve got concrete in my blood’: Elliot Construction builds toward a special anniversary
The 1950s were a great time to open a construction business in the Western suburbs.
Populations boomed — the United States Census recorded nearly 130% growth in Lombard between 1950 and 1960. In Wheaton, it was 108%. Naperville’s population grew by more than 80%, the same as in Elmhurst. And so on.
In Glen Ellyn, where decades ago a young Rob Elliot founded Elliot Construction Corporation, the population grew 67% in those 10 years.
“It was a small village, I think the population was probably around 15,000 (by 1960), so there was room, a lot of open space to put in some small subdivisions. We did a lot of work in Glen Ellyn. We’ve worked in all the counties around Chicago,” Elliot said.
Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, will be a special day for Elliot Construction. It’ll be exactly 70 years since Elliot incorporated the business.
But then, every day at Elliot Construction is a special day for Elliot. Although he sold the business a decade ago to Dan Hagen, his son-in-law, Elliot still comes in every day to the shop at 1101 Hill Ave.
“I’m 93 years old, I enjoy every moment of it because I’ve got concrete in my blood, and if I sit still it’ll harden and I’m done,” said Elliot, who actually started the business in 1953 on a nonunion basis but didn’t yet incorporate.
It’s been in his blood a long time, like his 71-year marriage to his wife, Marian. The two met in Elliot’s sole year at Wheaton College after Elliot graduated from Glenbard Township High School, before it became Glenbard West.
He got two great things out of college, both lasting a lifetime: a wife, and after Elliot “felt he was wasting time” and left school, a business. The owner of a Lombard concrete company, Charles Howard, gave Elliot his first job in the industry then introduced him to homebuilders in Elmhurst and Glen Ellyn who contracted him to pour foundations.
“And that’s what got us started,” Elliot said.
Elliot Construction has since done street pavings for subdivisions such as Wheaton Oaks and Glen Crest Estates, has poured concrete for myriad gas stations, the Rice Pool & Water Park in Wheaton, the Vaughan Athletic Center in Aurora, and Parkway Bank Park’s ice rink in Rosemont, to name but a few drops in the bucket.
There also have been big-ticket projects such as Fermilab in Batavia, the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Chicago’s Millennium Park, DeVry University, and Gold Star Families Memorial.
Elliot Lake, at Prairie and Gary avenues in Wheaton, is named after Rob Elliot.
Primarily a union shop, Elliot Construction owns more than 100 vehicles and employs about 120 people as Teamsters, iron workers, laborers, concrete finishers, mechanics, and other trades.
“I seek to serve the Lord rather than making money and I’m very thankful for all the people on our team,” Elliot said.
Like a lot of Elliot Construction employees, Elliot is one of several generations of the same family who work for the company.
After starting the business, in 1955, Rob Elliot pulled his father, Earl, out of retirement to help. Now there’s Hagen and his son, D.J. Hagen.
“Once they get here, they stay,” Elliot said of the company’s employees.
“I have a motto,” Elliot said. “I want to treat my people the way I want them to treat me. And my name is on the side of all those trucks. That’s important, too.”