William Wade Dill was the founder of Brookpark Builders in 1951. Wade started Brookpark Builders in 1951, experimenting with the latest technologies in construction. His passion for new technologies led him to create metal building products understanding that prefabricated parts created a quicker construction process. Pre-engineered buildings were still in their infancy. He later teamed up with Varco Pruden Buildings as a supplier of their products. To this day, Brookpark Design is still a member of the Varco Pruden network. Prior to Wade's passing, Ray Zifzal, Wade's superintendent, took over the ownership of Brookpark Builders. Ray changed the name to Brookpark Design Builders. After many successful years Ray decided to retire and was winding down the business when Ralph Friedmann approached him asking if he was interested in selling the business. Ray and Ralph finally came to an agreement and finalized the deal on April 1, 2005. Ray showed Ralph the ropes about running Brookpark Design Builders, and shortly after, Ralph’s son Steve joined the company. They spent many years establishing a new customer base and developing a new business plan. One of the key things that changed the company’s path moving forward was the decision to focus on the exterior building envelope. This entails creating custom wall panels and investing in new equipment, allowing Brookpark to be vertically integrated.

The starting of Ralph’s ownership was an exciting, yet stressful, time. The housing crash of 2008 created financial struggles for nearly all businesses at the time, including Brookpark Design Builders. He started with 3 employees, and took every opportunity he could, to slowly find his footing. In 2007, he took on his first retrofit project, which opened many new doors for the company. In 2012, Steve saw the need to venture out into aluminum composite panels. They began purchasing them from a supplier, but had a few bad experiences, and decided they were going to make their own. Ralph and Steve purchased a manual router to make their own ACM panels, which allowed them to stand out from other companies. On Sundays, the two would fold trim for a majority of the day. Eventually, business began to grow, so they invested in other machines, like a shear and CNC folder, to meet these needs. In 2016, the company moved to our current locations, off of South Akins Road in North Royalton. Construction of our current building began shortly after and was completed in 2018. The company has continued to expand and grow, all while being led with the same passion that Dill had when he started the company in 1951.