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A4 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday August 28, 2002 cm *3 ? ADULT & YOUTH PROGRAMS fall S M n t e r S e s a o ^ ^ Youth > D o n 't b lin k t w ic e Implosion will reduce 41-year-old building to rubble in seconds By Howard Mozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF · Powerskating & Hockey Skills # (Beginner toAdvanced) # "ea£* » ns"uc®r* · Ladies Only Program sToo! George McDonald Tips for Tots · High Performance Hockey Skills · Power Skating & Hockey Skills R E G IS T E R NOW 905-845-6989 check out our website for more details www.icesports.com check out our website for more details www.icesports.com Now Expanding Our CARDIO FACILITY As of September Ist, the Gym will offer the most pieces of Cardio Equipment per member than any other club in the area! When a controlled implosion drops Ford of Canada's central office building to earth next month, everything but decades of memories will vanish in the blink of an eye. According to Vice President of Public Affairs John Jelinek, it will take mere seconds for the structure's 8,000 cubic yards of concrete to collapse after more than 40 years as the automaker's Canadian headquarters. Prior to coming to Oakville in 1954, Ford of Canada's head office was located in leased space in four Toronto office buildings on Bloor Street West. Ground was broken on the seven-floor, 176.000 sq. ft. Oakville building in February 1960 and was com pleted in April of the following year. Included in the project were 500.000 bricks and tiles, 20,000 sq. ft. of ceramic and glazed tile, 5.000 sq. ft. of terrazzo floors, "Rather than work for four weeks with a ball and crane, this will be a 15-second event." · Ford spokesman John Jelinek 50,000 sq. ft. of glass, 90,000 sq. ft. of floor tile and 3,000 light fix tures. Formaldehyde and asbestos materials commonly used in the 1960s, but now considered haz ardous - have been removed around the clock since employees moved into the new headquarters on July 17 in preparation for the demolition. Salvageable materi als are also being hauled away. When that job is complete, says Jelinek, structural charges will be rigged up on the second and fourth floors and, if all goes according to plan on Sept. 15, the building should "fall into its own basement." "Rather than work for four weeks with a ball and crane, this will be a 15-second event," said Jelinek. Although traffic on the QEW will be halted briefly for the 7 a.m. implosion, Jelinek said the company is doing its best not to make a "circus" of the event. Instead, Ford plans to provide a viewing area established at a safe distance for employees, retirees, dealers and dignitaries. (A thou sand-foot safety zone is required.) Jelinek said Ford is acutely aware of the demolition's timing, what with the first year anniver sary of Sept. 11 falling only four days prior. Given the busy sched ule of the explosive experts and the company's needs, however, Sept. 15 was necessary. "It was not a date of our choosing," he said. Jelinek explained that time is of the essence since the collapsed building has to be removed and the new parking lot graded and paved before the asphalt contrac tor closes up shop for the winter. New building stresses 'functionality over rank' (Continued from page A1) We Make Fitness Easy! THE ig®% -&JP' To Join Call , 844-1610 NAUTILUS SPORTS/MEDICAL INC. 11 LAKESHORE RD. W,, OAKVILLE Voted Oakville's Best Fitness Club 1998, 1999 encing via satellite uplinks - also has television and broadcast capabilities. "In the old building we were stumbling over our limitations trying to put 1990s technology into a 1960s building," says Jelinek. "Sooner or later we'd have to start laying wires down the middle of hallways." It became so impractical to completely upgrade Ford's old haunt that the company realized it would be only slightly more expensive and far less disruptive to just rebuild. "At some point you really exceed the limitations of the util ity of a building," said Jelinek. The result is a purpose-built structure featuring fully-integrated wired and wireless tech nology plus moveable walls and flexible materials ideal for expansion or reconfiguration. Six storeys high, the new building is one floor less than the "In the old building we were stumbling over our limitations trying to put 1990s technology into a 1960s building. Sooner or later we'd have to start laying wires down the middle of hallways." · Ford spokesman John Jelinek old one, but at 187,000 sq. ft., it's 11,000 sq. ft. larger. (A below-grade lower concourse houses graphic services, Fordstar Studio, archives, build ing services and a hair stylist.) The teak and marble accents of the old building may be a thing of the past, but the new digs have 40 conference rooms - as opposed to only seven in the original - plus an improved heat, cooling and ventilation system. In keeping with the "func tionality over rank" mandate of the new building, Jelinek says only two offices (including that of the president) have their own windows. Instead, an open con cept maximizes natural light and allows employees panoramic views of Oakville, especially from five small meeting rooms in the cylindrical component on the west face of the building. "Everybody gets to share the windows," said Jelinek. Some of the perks of power such as the old apartments on the seventh floor of the old building for visiting brass - have not been replaced. In fact, those suites \yere converted to office space in 1994 as much-needed work space was added. 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