Today, the plant, with its automated production equipment, produces 20,000 tons of structural steel annually. It includes more than 100,000 square feet of covered production space, 130,000 square feet under cranes, and 14 acres of land.

In 1993, Harold (despite being 85, an age when most men would have left business far behind) and Oscar's son, Carl, purchased Ferguson Steel Co., Inc.

After 1997, Harold spent less and less time at Geiger & Peters, leaving its management to chairman Carl, presi­dent James Colzani, and the upcoming fourth generation: His and Oscar's grandchildren. Harold died in 2000.

In its century, Geiger & Peters has worked on projects as diverse as bridges, gymnasiums, aircraft facilities, high-rise buildings, museums and sports stadiums. Most of its projects have been within 300 miles of its plant, making its steel deliverable by truck, but it has also worked with firms and general contrac­tors nationally and internationally. Its foundation is long-term customer partnerships based on ethical business practices, dependability, and its desire to exceed its customers' expectations.

Project preplanning leads to reduction of fabrication costs, as do close network­ing between its engineers and the construction team and reliable delivery of materials to meet job site schedules. Its capacity to perform a wide variety of work enables it to adapt to ever-chang­ing markets and customer needs.

Its beams, channel, angle and plates support such landmarks and projects as the Eiteljorg Museum, Victory Field, IMAX Theater, Lilly additions, United Airlines Maintenance Facility, Federal Express Airport Complex, ATA Hanger, power plants, the Historical Society Facility, the Conseco Fieldhouse, two Anthem buildings, the large Ben Davis High School complex, and the inno­vative Indiana State Museum.

For its work on Carmel High School, Geiger & Peters was honored in 2000 with one of five engineering innovation awards given nationally by the Ameri­can Institute of Steel Construction.

As it approaches the end of its first century, Geiger & Peters continues as a mid-size, profitable specialty steel fabricator, a niche business, growing comfortably working on complex struc­tures for the construction trade.

The years after the war were filled with challenge and expansion.

In 1951, the Bureau of Internal Rev­enue, as the IRS was then known, sought additional income taxes from Geiger & Peters. In that period of cor­ruption and "five percenters" in the Bureau, the company fought back. Its successful petition to the U.S. Tax Court, "Geiger & Peters vs. the Com­missioner" became important case law.

In the early 1960s, Indiana's High­way Commission and the U.S. Bureau of Roads decided to expand Madison Avenue into an expressway, lowering the road 20 feet in front of Geiger & Peters and blocking access to the plant for deliveries in and out. The agencies denied compensation to the Peters family, which owned the land, and to the company. Harold and Oscar took the case to the state Supreme Court, and in 1964 won

damages. It built a new steel works on its property at 761 South Sherman Drive in southeastern Indianapolis.