The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

i Z\)t (tnnaînan statesman Section Two Wednesday, July 23, 1986 iw jç j y IS À J - I,; • H $ 47 cyjy -M. .Æ <>• wy^/fj_vV ^i_y W"£f S ?3 <5 £7 i r 7 ,<5) g /Tf '.1 H Mt'YuF ':■/ » ' *rj 1-» •"'7 .*1.* *x,'j •" *7 *nr><x .ILS M/ WiS/ M %M by Rob Savage Havingall ofone's possessions possessions under one roof isn't normally a cause for celebration. celebration. But the staff at the Newcastle Newcastle Hydro-Electric Commission Commission felt the official opening of their new building building last Wednesday night was a monumental event. The building is at Lamb's Road and Hwy. 2, and it is large enough to store all of Hydro's equipment. Prior to the building's construction, hydro's equipment was scattered throughout Bow- manville, Newcastle, and Orono., Poles for the hydro lines were in the town's works depot in Bowmanville and their water heaters were in Newcastle. Now, everything's together together in a neatly arranged and beautiful-looking building with 9600 square feet of room. Neil Britton, the Manager of Belleville P.U.C., officially officially cut the ribbon at last week's official opening while Chairman Harvey Partner, Vice-Chairman Robert Stevens, Mayor John Winters, . and MPP Sam Cureatz looked on. Mr. Britton called the event a "special and historic" historic" occasion. He said the staff and commissioners "must be proud of a facility like this." He also said that he felt strongly connected to the history of Hydro's development. development. "Hydro has been in my blood since before I was born," he told the crowd who watched the ribboncutting. ribboncutting. He reminded the audience audience that this latest development development wasjusta part of Hydro's growing history. "The people who have gone before us and made this possible met the challenges of the day," he said. He also thanked the public public for their continuing contributions. contributions. "They have (the building), of course, because because you the customers have made it possible." Staff from Newcastle Hydro then began giving tours of the new headquarters. headquarters. The tours began with the office area, where the colors colors are much brighter than they had been in the old building. This section has a large counter area with four work stations behind it and some nicely -decorated offices, offices, including a conference conference room where the table was surrounded by six very plush seats. Even the washrooms were nicely painted, with a blue color for the men's room and pink for the ladies. And the office walls featured featured paintings by local artists, artists, including Jessie Sle- mon from Enniskillen. The tours then moved to the workers' area in the back, where some even larger changes could be noticed. Workers were especially pleased that the water heaters heaters were on a top floor which could be easily reached by the workers at the bottom because ofa new gas-powered lift truck. Because the truck isn't electric like the old one, it doesn't need to be plugged in and can go anywhere. The truck can lift objects 12 ft. up and can handle a maximum weight of 3000 lbs. There were also large areas for the work bench and the tool shed, and the stock cage was neatly organized organized with a variety of bits and pieces for the Hydro lines. And one could go from the backgaragc area to theyard outside, where Hydro now had room for their poles and their trucks. The trucks became one of the main sources of amusement amusement during the tour. People were offered rides in the mobile hydraulic lift ("cherry picker") and Mayor John Winters and Councillor Councillor Hal McKnight were the first two to go aloft. Pictures had also been put up which showed the various stages of the building's building's construction from its beginning in July, 1985, to its completion in April, 1986. And while some said it might have been nice to have an even larger building, building, they were still happy because the new building is a vast improvement over the old one. seasstaas*/';* -- - k#p •> wise • - ?* ■ rv 1 - Wt 14»"*: Guests at the opening were also treated to an inspection of the trucks, which ||ififl: §®ta seemed to be in fine order. Hydro must be proud to show off their parking space ^ at the back, now that they have enough room to park their vehicles there. Of <W" ' * '* ' course, no inspection would be complete without checking out the motorized - '*■**•/• ' i hydraulic lifts. Rides were given to people who wanted to go up in the lifts, , ' IV " \ with Mayor Winters and Councillor Hal McKnight volunteering to be the first /v-RVV:,--:'.:--:'-: » , \ .. .1 passengers. Retired Public Utilities staff member Ken Kilmer was a special guest at the official opening and was presented with a gift by Manager Morley Watson to mark the occasion. Vi- Comfortable chairs surround conference table. I'WJf "f: r.;■* • .<• • ..■■■ ■ v -<--v ... . ...... ?;_y; ^ - f V"' • * * t0. k? A grand opening just isn't the same without the the ribbon just as it was cut to mark the official official cutting of the ribbon. Neil Britton, the Man- opening of The Newcastle Hydro Electric Commis- ager of Belleville PUC, Hydro Chairman Harvey sion's new centre of operations at Lamb's Road and Partner, Hydro Vice-Chairman Robert Stevens, and Hwy. 2. M.P.P. Sam Cureatz and Mayor John Winters look, at xT This is an overall view of the attractive main office and the reception counter. 'TV " ' ' X ' ^ ' MX Local residents were given a guided tour of the arranged and organized. The view from above shows now building, which is 9600 square feet in size There how close the water heaters arc to the workers seemed to be enough room for everything, and most below, something the people at Hydro are grateful of the bits and pieces in the stock cage looked neatly for. " " ' J ■7 Staff will have plenty of counter space and cabinets for storing records.