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Tim Burrows constructs his metal projects in a workshop west of Highlandville.
Tim Burrows constructs his metal projects in a workshop west of Highlandville.

Dream Jobs: Tim Burrows

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Tim Burrows has a job that would make the jaw drop of anyone who enjoys tinkering in the shed. Surrounded by torches, steel and hammers of all sizes and drawings on wax paper, Burrows is half welder and half modern artist.

“I do everything a blacksmith does, except I make money,” Burrows said.

Roughly 8 miles west of Highlandville, in a workshop he built next to his country home, on any given day Burrows can be found heating and shaping metal. Most recently, he’s been shaping leaves of steel for a vine to adorn a gate.

For more than 30 years, Burrows has been the man behind many unique metal creations embellishing the halls of Bass Pro Shops, Big Cedar Lodge and the Top of the Rock golf course south of Branson. Known for his work with gates, staircase railings and chandeliers, Burrows’ client list has grown to include the Walt Disney Co., several members of the O’Reilly family, Marlin Co. and the Herschend family, among others. Today, he said 80 percent of his projects come from Bass Pro founder Johnny Morris, with whom Burrows has worked since 1986.

An idea man with a discerning eye, Burrows utilizes a bevy of independent contractors throughout the area – mostly people he’s worked with on and off for years – to bring his one-of-a-kind creations to fruition. Companies and individuals he’s worked with include Alex Harrison of Harrison Machine Shop; Steve Tindle of Garage Graphics and Visuals; potter George Milne; and craftsman Rick Braun. Burrows also worked for years with business partner Jay Wood through their company Burrows and Wood Co.

Since May, Burrows said he hasn’t taken on any new jobs because he’s too busy working metal for Top of the Rock, the Morris-owned golf course that has been closed for remodeling since a kitchen fire broke out eight years ago.

In Burrows’ workshop hangs an American Indian-style lantern, for which he said he’s yet to perfect the LED-backed glow. In all, he has an order of 12 lanterns to fill for Top of the Rock. Currently, he’s finishing one of five metal gates to line the facility’s wine-center pathway.

The craftsman started Tim Burrows Metal Art & Design LLC in 2009 after eight years at Springfield-based Carnahan-White Inc. Before joining the fence company in 2000, Burrows worked 25 years as a welder. He got his start in the late 1970s at Bill’s Blacksmith Shop across from Bingham Elementary, and later owned of the former Clarks Welding shop on East Trafficway Street. Before Burrows started work for Morris on the seemingly never-ending list of projects, he was becoming known for his artistic work.

Commissioned to complete showcase boxes for the Landers Theatre in the mid-80s, he said one day in particular has come to represent his unusual career.  

“I went to a luncheon with Mrs. (Jane) Meyers and the Landers’ board in a three-piece, pin-striped suit drinking champagne and an hour after I left I was (repairing) the back of a trash truck, looking at maggots. It never left me, the irony of it all,” Burrows said.

His opportunity to work with Morris came from a low bid on a gate for the Worman House restaurant at Big Cedar Lodge.

“We bid it for $400,” Burrows said of his work with Wood and contributor Jerry Goodman.

He added the gate won an award for the best subcontracted piece on the Big Cedar construction. “We were standing around talking to Tom Jowett, the head architect, and I said, ‘Tom, did you get any other bids?’ He said, ‘Yes, we got two other bids, one from Kansas City and one from St. Louis. The first was for $3,500 and the other was for $4,000 and we thought what the heck, we’ll give you a shot.’ We never looked back after that.”

His work with Bass Pro Shops has led to projects with others in the region and beyond, including the Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS). His projects with Disney include five fireplaces at the Wilderness Lodge Resort at Florida’s Disney World and the 20-foot gate leading into Disneyland from the Grand Californian Hotel. His handiwork can also be seen in the butterfly gate at Camp Barnabas, the grand staircase at Bass Pro Shops’ Outdoor World in Springfield and a $15,000 hinged gate outside the home of the late Andy Williams, the second gate he built for Williams – Burrows keeps the original Williams sliding gate just outside his shop, where it currently rests against trees after an electrical malfunction. He might use it as a gate to his property someday, Burrows said.

For Burrows, the work is all about creating a lasting, unique piece of art, something he said he has a passion for.

“When you have a passion for something, it’s fun,” Burrows said. “Everyone I work with and know still has a passion and we get excited whatever the challenge is.”

He said he’s been blessed to work with many people through the years who love what they do, and that’s what keeps him going.

Springfield-based CMS Metal Works Inc. owner Sam Marchese is among a handful of subcontractors Burrows has worked with for more than 20 years. Marchese said he’s worked with Burrows on hundreds of projects and helped him establish an ongoing relationship with Bass Pro Shops.

“There for a couple of years, every project was Tim’s. But now, I’m busy with Bass Pro, so I haven’t done any work with Tim for probably the past year or so,” Marchese said. “I try to make the metal look like what he’s thinking in his head. It’s all about details with Tim. It’s got to have the look, you know.”

Marchese said some people have found Burrows’ attention to detail difficult to work with in the past, but Marchese appreciates Burrows’ commitment to his vision.

“He’s a tremendous artist. He cares about what he does, and it has to be right before it goes out the door, no matter what,” Marchese said. “Tim’s a little different, but there’s a place for him. There are people who want one-of-a-kind [pieces], and Tim is a heck of a designer.”

Burrows said each project, when complete, should be something he and the others who have contributed are proud of.

“You can’t do it without passion or it can’t have that magic. It just has it or it doesn’t and you can’t fake it,” Burrows said.[[In-content Ad]]

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