As the Martin Building renovation project gears up for completion, we wanted to acknowledge the hard work and attention to detail by the hundreds of workers on the project. One of them, William “Bobcat” Cousins, also worked on the Hamilton Building 13 years ago. Read below to learn more about him:
“I feel more alive than I have in a long time” professed William Cousins, a flooring installer for All City Floors Company, who came out of retirement to work on the Martin Building.
Prior to his retirement, Cousins spent 15 years with All City Floors and had the opportunity to work on the DAM’s Hamilton Building, which was completed in 2006. “It was one of the top five jobs I worked on in Colorado,” stated Cousins. “It was just prestigious. It gives you the chills.”
On the Hamilton Building project, he perfected the process for installing the unique end grain wood block flooring. This flooring type is one of the most durable and resilient floor surfaces available. The wood is carefully selected, precision-machined, kiln-dried, and turned on end. Once the flooring shows up onsite, it takes two to three days to acclimate to the building’s climate. Then, the flooring is ready for installation, a process requiring pure skill, as no two angles are the same. Installers use custom measurement tools to ensure accurate cuts and to make sure proper staggering is achieved.
Currently, Cousins is installing the wood floors in the Martin Building. “Prior to this project, I was fully retired. I would sleep in and then do yard work. When I heard about the upcoming project at the Denver Art Museum, I could hardly wait to come out of retirement,” he said while proudly showing the process for installing the floors. “This is the best product around. You can see how thick the wood is and you can sand and refinish it several times.” Walking around the project with Cousins, it’s evident he is excited to come to work every day, and this excitement shows in the beautiful finished product.
Married for over 27 years with two sons and three grandchildren, Cousins is also a family man. When asked about what his favorite part about the Martin Building project, he said, “being able to eventually show it to my family.”
