Page 45 - Rukert - 100th Anniversary

Changing of the Guard
PART I THE RUKERT STORY
FACING PAGE:
Construction of "B" berth in 1962
BELOW: Left to right: “H” building completed and full of cargo; S/S Sophie Maris, the first ship to dock at “B” berth; and succession announcement.
[1961-1973]
R ukert Terminals celebrated its 40th anniversary on September
24, 1961. Earlier that year,
Cap’s sister, Marie Rukert Duling, who had worked for the company at times,
died at the age of 63. Also in 1961, Cap made the announcement that he was moving up to Chairman of the Board and his son Norman Sr. would be President. It was quite an honor for Norman, even though he would not have a desk in the main office for another 12 years.
In the spring of 1962, company leadership decided to build a second berth at Lazaretto. Once again, the bank, which was now the Maryland National Bank, came through with a loan, this time for $900,000. The Arundel Corporation started construction that summer, and it finished the 575-foot pier, known as “B” berth, in time to dock
the S/S Sophie Maris on March 19, 1963. When the new 30,000-square-foot transit shed, named “H” building, was completed, Rukert Terminals had one of the finest marine terminals in the port. To help supervise the expanding operations at this terminal, Milton Bacon was hired on April 18, 1962, after spending many years as Pier Superintendent for the American Steamship’s Old Bay Line, an overnight passenger service between Baltimore and Norfolk.
In 1966, Rukert Terminals purchased Pier 5 from the Pennsylvania Railroad, with the help of a $290,000 loan from Maryland National Bank. When Pier 5 was leased in 1937, it included six acres of firm land, but had additional
area that could be filled to the property line. When Rukert
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