What's that? Robot stands guard at Hempfield concrete business

Editor’s note: “What’s That?” is a recurring feature in the Tribune-Review’s Westmoreland Plus edition. If there’s something you’d like to see explored here, send an email to gtrcity@tribweb.com.

A 10-foot statue may surprise some motorists as they pass by the front entrance to a Hempfield concrete company.

The steel creation isn’t one that symbolizes the company and isn’t a logo. It is a conversation piece, according to Stone Co. manager Adam Stone.

The statue depicts Optimus Prime, the robot protagonist of the “Transformers” movie franchise. It’s a character based on a toy that transforms from a truck into a robot, and is a central part of the action movie series that debuted in 2007.

It has no meaning but has become a mascot of sorts for the century-old business, said Stone, whose family has owned the company for the last century.

“My uncle bought it at an art gallery in Las Vegas in 2017. It was constructed in Vegas and shipped here. There’s no sentimental value, we’re just fans of the arts,” Stone said. “He was just walking by, saw it and bought it. It has no other reason really for it to be here.”

The statue sits on a 4-foot concrete pedestal that overlooks Roseytown Road and is one of multiple pieces of art that are featured near the front door at several of Stone and Co.’s 12 locations in the region.

There’s a marble lion at the company’s business near Morgantown, W. Va., and a replica of a “Predator” movie character appears at the company’s lodge in Acme. The Stone family has a bull statue in front of a home in Unity.

“It’s not to be showy, it’s just to be interesting and grab people’s attention. We’ve had a lot of cool reaction to it,” Stone said.

Stone and Co. has been in business for more than a century. It started as a lumber and coal dealer and following World War II, evolved into the concrete business with the company’s first plant in Connellsville.

Today, the company operates 12 permanent and two portable concrete plants, nine retail building supply stores, a block manufacturing facility and two locations that manufacture precast concrete for retaining walls.

The robot, with eyes that light red at night, has become symbol of the company’s operations in and around the Greensburg area.

Stone said it’s not unusual for motorists to stop, take pictures and even come inside and ask for more information about the robot.

“We’ve gotten so many questions about why it’s there and if people know my uncle, it wouldn’t surprise them. He has multiple statues in multiple locations,” Stone said.

“He got it because he liked it. People like to come and look and laugh at it. There’s no other story behind it.”