Hometown boys make good

Danette Goulet

They paddled through the Harbour and surfed Bolsa Chica State Beach at

Warner Avenue as kids -- before bathrooms were there. Now the Weeger

brothers are rebuilding the bathrooms and revamping the state park

facilities.

They went to school at Harbour View Elementary School and Marina High

School. Now they build schools in Huntington Beach.

The used to play children’s games, possibly pretending to be firemen,

in their Huntington Beach neighborhood. Now they build fire stations in

Huntington that hold the big red trucks they had replicas of.

They used to help out with their fathers business. Now they run their

own -- Weeger Bros., Inc.

And since 1995 when they landed the bid to build the Mike Case

addition onto Dwyer Middle School, they have begun to know success and

enjoy a first-rate reputation in their hometown.

“They’re very detailed, they do good work, they seem to be timely in

their execution of their projects,” raved Doug Stack, a city engineer who

co-workers warn can be tough on contractors.

Their latest and greatest project is very close to home for Greg and

Mark Weeger.

Greg Weeger, 46, can see much of his old stomping grounds through the

window trailer where he works each day on the site of his latest project

-- the restoration of Bolsa Chica State Beach.

“We used to water ski in there,” he said, nodding toward the now

off-limits reserve across the street.

“See those trees? That’s where Smokey’s house was -- he took care of

all the oil wells,” he went on. “We used to run around in there,

exploring the old bunkers.”

With a mischievous grin, he talked about taking a little boat they had

out through the Harbour and riding BMX bikes across dirt paths.

In his dusty jeans and work boots and a grimy white polo shirt that

accented a hard-earned tan, it is clear that the older brother still

likes to get his hands dirty and revels in the work.

At $12.3 million, Bolsa Chica is the brothers’ biggest project thus

far, but is a standout project to them for others reasons too.

“It’s so close - I could ride my bike here,” said Greg Weeger, who has

a mere 2.5 miles to go to work everyday.

He said on this project he has taken care to upgrade the little things

-- hinges are stainless steel regardless of lesser requirements, for

instance.

“I don’t want to be embarrassed when I ride my bike by, seeing a

rusting hinge or something,” he explained.

The two have hometown pride.

“We worked hard to get this job,” Greg Weeger said.

But the younger Mark Weeger, 44, who looks equally comfortable in

khaki shorts, flip flops and silk Hawaiian shirt, and runs the office

side of things in their Main Street headquarters, said they’ve had

Huntington jobs just fall in line.

After being the low bidder for Seacliff Elementary School and then

again for new Fire Station No. 6 on Edwards Street, Mark Weeger said they

seem to be getting every job they bid for in Surf City.

“Within Huntington we’ve worked for the city, the state and Huntington

Beach City School District,” Mark Weeger said.

In addition to the Bolsa Chica project, the Weegers are also building

the city’s new beach maintenance facility building in Newland Street.

“It’s neat to be part of the good changes [in Huntington Beach],” Mark

Weeger said.

They are the third generation of Weegers to have a building company

and helped out at their father business at a young age.

“We just kind of fell into it,” said Mark Weeger, who helped on sites

and in the office, learning to put bids together under his father’s

tutelage.

In fact they had a hand in building the house they grew up in when

they moved to Huntington Harbour when they were about 10 and 11.

They have run the Weeger Bros., Inc. together for 20 years. Both

brothers still live Huntington.