WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18,1976, PAGE 11 Whitby Business 10-year wait for development Construction starts in October for Brock Street Safeway Plaza After 10 years as a vacant lot, the old Buckle Factory property on Brock Street South is about to become a major commercial shopping plaza for downtown Whitby. An agreement was signed on Friday between the Town of Whitby and Byron- Brock Centre Ltd. for the construction of a 33,000 square foot shopping plaza, of which 25,000 square feet will be occupied by a Safeway food store, and 8,000 square feet will be devoted to several small stores. The shopping centre, to be known as Safeway Plaza, will have an entrance on Brock Street opposite Gilbert Street, and an exit for south- bound traffic onto Brock Street adjacent to the Texaco Station at Dunlop Street, says Development Co-ordina- The Bad Boy appliance store under construction at Dundas Street and Thickson Road since last fall should be open in time for the fall trade this year, says Whitby's Development Co-ordinator Forbes McEwen. The development, on the north west corner of this major commercial centre of the town consists of 57,900 square feet, of which 30,000 square feet will be occupied by Bad Boy, and the remainder will be devoted to other stores. An entrance is provided off Thickson Road and another off Dundas Street. The Dundas Street entrance Ontario Government Tender TENDER ROOFING CONTRACTORS Roof repairs to high level roof area at the Durham Regional Centre, Ontario Hospital, Whitby, Ontario. TENDER NO. LIN-76-090 -- P-67275. Sealed tenders will be received until 2:00 P.M. LOCAL TIME, SEPTEM- BER 7,1976. Tender Documents may be obtained from the Ontario Ministry of Govemment Services, Lindsay Regional Office, 322 Kent Street West, P.O. Box 7000, Lindsay, Ontario. NOTE: For further informa- tion regarding this tender, please call Mrs. E.M. Neale, at the above address. Telephone: (705) 324-9188. The lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted. -Ontario Ministry of Govemment Serces _______________________________ I tor Forbes McPwen. There will also be a pedestrian walkway into the centre from Byron Street. Negotiations for the Safeway - Plaza began six months ago with the owner of the property, Albert Pearl, who has entered into a joint venture with Karavan Construction Ltd. of Toronto to build the shopping centre. Safeway is one of the largest food store chains in North America, and has a store in Oshawa, says Mr. McEwen. A bylaw to close Gilbert Street between Brock and Byron Streets, to facilitaite the construction of the plaza, has been passed by the town cnuncil and registered, and fill has already been taken from the site at the developer's expense for use at the new municipal will be closed in the future, and an entrance provided off Elizabeth Crescent in con- formity with the town s policy of restricting access from Dundas Street to com- mercial developments, says Mr. McEwen. Commercial development at Thickson Road and Dundas Street began in 1969 with the construction of the Whitby Mall. Since 1974, Cherney's Furniture Ware. house, Dave Guillet's Furni- turc Warehouse and Factory Carpet Outlet have con- structed buildings on Dundas Street east of Thickson Road. Further development is expected on the vacant land on the southwest corner of the intersection, in the coming years. building site on Rossland Road. Mr. McEwen said he expects that moving of utilities at the plaza site will begin in late August, and construction willbeginOct. 1. The expected completion date is May 1977, The plaza will be located adjacent to Byron Street, with parking for 150 cars fronting on Birock Street. Mr. McEwen says the parking area will undoubtedly supple- ment some nearby downtown businesses where parking is in short supply. le predicted that the Safeway Plaza will help to bring more people into'down- town Whitby to do their shopping, since it is located only two and a half blocks fron the Four Corners. Mr. McEwen said that it took 10 years for a develop- ment to be built on the buckle factory site because previu.îs proposals for high rise apartments or a combina- tion of apartments and com- mercial development could not bring a reasonable return to the owner and remain acceptable to the munici- pality. In later years it has become less economical to constructapartment buildings, so the development became of a purely -commercial nature, he said. The Safeway Plaza is the îirst major commercial devet- opinent to corne to the immediate downtown area since Shoprite moved into the vacant plaza at Dundas and Perry Streets last year, and Henry Buildall moved into the former A and P store. Further from the down- town core, the Whitby To\yne Plaza opened at Dundas and Frances Streets in 1975. mkU1 SNOW CLEARING TENDERS INVITED WHITBY-OSHAWA Contract 76-T-7 Supply tandem truck with snow plow and salt spreader for use on GO Transit parking lots. Bid forms, speci(ications and information may be obtained from Mr. Ken Yip-Chuck at the office of the Toronto Area Transit Operating Authority, 3625 Dufferin St., Downsview, Ontario; Telephone 630-2635. Submissions should be physically received. at the Au,thority Secretary's Office at the above address not later than 1:00 p.m. E.D.S.T., Thursday, August 26, 1976. BIDS WILL UE PUBLICLY OPENED ON THE ABOVE DATE. TORONTO AREA TRANSIT OPERATING AUTHORITY This artist's sketch shows what the Safeway Plaza, on Brock Street south of Dunlop Stret will look like by the time of its completion in May 1977. Construction is expected to start in October on this major commercial development for downtown Whitby. The site of the Safeway Plaza has been a vacant lot for 10 years, and was formerly occupied by a buckle.factory. July another active month at Manpower centres The month of July was another active month at the Canada Manpower Centres in Whitby, Oshawa and Ajax. A total of 779 placements were made through the three offices, an increase of 71 placements over June place- ment figures, and 206 place- ments above July of 1975. Once again the three Canada Manpower Centres for Students experienced a very busy month as well. Included in the above 779 placements, are 347 regular student placements during July. In addition, to the total figure of 779 placements, the student offices also had 121 casual placements as well. A placement is considered casual if the period of work involved is less than five days. Most of these jobs would be householder jobs such as cutting grass, washing win- dows or other general home maintenance. Area home owners and employers are advised that many students are still seeking summer enployient, regardless of the length of employment available. July figures for the Whitby centre show 47 place- ments, 33 student placements and 28 casual placements. The number of clients registered for employment at the three Canada Manpower Centres for July totalled 10,458 consisting of 4,736 male and 5,722 female registrants. Included in this total are 1,212 male and 1,369 female students. seek- ing summer employment and 329 employed persons seeking other employment. The increase in total registrations from June figures is alnost entirely accounted for by the increase in student registrations from high school students who finished school at the end of June. The majority of clients were registered in the follow- ing occupations: clerical, sales and services, product fabricating, repairing and. assembling occupations, con- struction trades and material handling. Skilled trade occupations continue to offer the greatest employment opportunities. There are current shortages for sheet metal workers, welder fitters, motor vehicle mechanics with Class "A" licences, mould-makers,. and machinists. There are also openings in service trade occupations for waitresses and waiters, barbers, baby- sitters, live-in housekeepers, lifeguards, hairdressers and security guards. Local Bad Boy store to open for fall trade A à MORTGAGES 1m1 i T E O 1.st & 2nd Arrangedi Bought and Sold at Prime Rates can Peter Kade 668-1.556 ANUBIS INVESTMENTS Ltd. 149 rock tt. N., Whltby Open 7 do$s a week Maple leaf RESTAURANT 120 BROC* ST. M. WHITBY - TEL.: 668-9461 Delicious Cnaodion ond Italien Dishe. Operate In' To*p muWhl Form... Whatever forms you need for your business . .. bills, ledgers, labels, work sheets, envelopes, letterheads, file cards ... count on us for experthelp. We'll be happy to give 'you suggestions. M.B.M. Publishing & Photography Inc 121 Brock St. N. Whitby 668-6111 1 -