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Blaze guts core building However, traffic ac- cidents are on the rise, and police will be step- ping up their traffie watch, including more frequent safety and seat belt checks. Construction of apartment building _ at Uhiversityand Westmount okayed " looks like con- stmctlon may soon be underway on that long- vacant building site at the corner of West- mount Road and Uni- versity Avenue. Council Monday night approved the lo cation of an II-storey apartment building on the site, despite tt rec HOUSED SIX BUSINESSES During the past week, police report the Waterloo Regional Police report that crime is down for the months of January through March com- pared with 1981. Seventy employees of Volker-Craig Ltd. of Waterloo face unem- ployment this sum- mer. Fire oftieiais have not yet determined the Cause of an early morning blaze which gutted a "-year-oid building located at 34 Laurel St. (between Erb Street and Bridge- The company an- nounced late last week that in July it will be moving its production operations to facilities in Ottawa owned by its parent company, Nabu Manufacturing Corp. Close to 100 grade 12 and 13,5tudmts hom across Ontario, all 'rreregistered, will be attending Wilfrid Laurier University's fifth annual spring ca~ Ter planning institute May 12. » _ The twrrstorey ma- sonry building. owned by Enos Lichtl of 30 Severn Ave., Kitchen- er, housed six Waterloo businesses including: G&A Lock Service. Luxury Upholstering Co., Anco Manufactur- "The day-long work- shop will give the stu- port Road) in the Chis By Karla Wham TO face layoffs this July 'Ne Waterioo dom- By Chronicle sun By Chronicle sun Police report WLU career institute When it reviewed the preliminary site plans of developer Hallman Construction in late April, the committee suggested the building be reoriented on the site in order to improve energy conservation by exposing all units to ommendation from the city's site plan review committee that the proposal be rejected. As part of the ses- Mons. occupational dents an opportunity to examine their inter- ests. aptitudes. values and goals and relate them to their career possibilities." said Peter Soroka. Laurier's career advr There was never any danger of the blaze Although 70 employ- ees will be laid off, said Michael Volker in an interview. since the move "is basically con- cernin,g the production end of the business. "It (the fire) was fully involved when we arrived." Watchorn said. "But we were able to bring it under control quickly." Volker-Craig, a lead- ing manufacturer of computer terminals. now employs 120 in its facility at 330 Weber St. According to Capt. Jim Watchom. the fire department responded to a phone call received at 5:04 Inn. and dis, patched two pumpers, one aerial unit and an emergency vehicle to the Laurel Street site. pany was acquired by Ngbu in January of this year. in): Co., KW Drafting Ltd., CON/EX. and Wiggly Worm Co. following break-and- enters: Dale Crescent, entry access unknown, not known if anything taken; Parkside Drive, entry through con- struction trailer. tele- phone and blueprints taken; Park Street. entry via door, cash taken; Old Post Road, not known if anything taken or how entry gained; and Wismer Road, entry via door, nothing taken. Gary Wright, repre- senting Hellman. told council that the build- er's proposal was "the best solution .-. which takes the full spectrum of concerns into ac- count." sunlight and to protect the treed areas on the lot. As well, some of Volker-Craig's man- agement and technical personnel have been offered positions in Ot- tawa. representatives will make presentations and be available for consultations in their fields which include ac- counting, computing, engineering. finance, medicine, public rela- tions, recreation. sales. social work, science. teaching and journal» lain. The decision to make the move was not a sudden one on the part of the company, said Volker. who with partners Ron Craig. The proposed loca~ - _ - tion. he stressed, "ac- Alderman Richard those involved in sales and engineering will remain in Waterloo." spreading-to ndjaggnt buildings, Watchorn said. And although the fire was brought under control earlier this morning. " of press time (10 a.m.). Wat- chorn. said all fire- fighters were still on the scene ensuring that all burning embers were extinguished. "We have a tot of overhaul work on a building that old," he said. explaining that older structures often have many more "hot, spots to be extin. guished." A total of 23 fire- fighters were called to the scene, Watchorn said, including both the regular night crew and men from the off shift who were brought in to help fight the blaze. No injuries were reported. Fire prevention " ficers will be asked to investigate the cause of the fire, said Wat- chem. "But it might be very difficult to determine cause with damage to that extent." Watchom said "very rough estimates“ place total damage to the building and its con- tents at "over $100,000 but under $500,000." According to Wright the developer plans to begin preparation of the building site this month and intends to have the foundation in place by summer. The move, he ex- plained. is part of a company consolidation program geared towards removing in- ternal operating ineffi- ciencies. "Nabu," Volker said. "is the ongoing busi- neu activity of seven companies that have come together over the past year. counts for the best in- terests of Beechwood, the city and the luxury market it wishes to serve." "When the compa- nies 'merged they all had their own sales. production and engi- neering staff ... you act certain Inefficiencles " a result of this over- lap. "This was part and parcel of the acquisi- tion of the company by Nabu." he said. "tt was just not known before when 'the move would take place." Alan Werenko and Dave Yardley, founded the company In 1973. "One of the reasons Laughs abounded Friday at the Waterloo Adult Recreation Centre as 200 area seniors helped Harold Wagner celebrate his 85th birthday. Above, Wagner, who is holding a gift of 1 25th commemorative coins presented to him by the centre staft, takes the microphone trom emcee Marley Josslin. For eight years Wagner has been the program director for the popular Be A Friday Alternooher program at the centre. Through his eftorts, the program has grown from " to 200 people. Wagner, who served as a Waterloo alderman tor 42 years, was lavished with cards and gifts at Friday's surprise party. (Photo by Karla Wheeler). A PARTY FOR HAROLD Biggs argued in favor of the builder's propos- al calling it "a tremen- dous development. "We asked for this kind of development on the site," and Riggs continued. "the way the builder positions the building is "his concern." we came together is we felt the whole would be better than the sum of the partners, .. he added. "We felt we would be far more pow- erful together." Nabh was formed last July through the amalgamation of five computer-related firms. With the acqui- sition of Voiker-Craig and an Ottawa firm. Constrtidated Com- puter, the total number of firms involved in Nabu was brought to seven. Both Volker-Craig and its parent have been doing "quite well" since the merger in January, said Volker. Although the Nabu Manufacturing Corp. is only nine months old, said Volker, It In "already profitable and emphys about no "This is a major de- velopment worth mil- IEAIELugtfldtttfRttttg1 lions of dollars," Biggs argued. "The develop er has a large tract of land and as far as I'm concerned ... I think he can set the building the way he wants to." Biggs' stand was. backed up by Aid. Mary Jane Mewhinney who said. “I think we shouldhe pleased that Hallman ls taking on this project." The city, she cotttin- ued, "should attempt to facilitate the project if we can." Award categories are: residen- tial, commercial, industrial and special. Nomination deadline is May 15. For further details and nomimr. tion applications, contact the Wa- terloo Downtown Residents Asso- ciation, c/o 48 Allen St. E., Waterloo NN 3H9, or call the Waterloo Chamber of Commerce at 886-2440. The Waterloo Downtown Resi- dents Association and the city of Waterloo are seeking nominations for the Civic Improvement Awards given annually in recogni- tion of improvements made to the central Waterloo area. Nominations sought for civic awards LCBtEMKM1AY Council approved the building location in order that Hallman can begin work on site preparation, but the matter was referred back to the site plan review committee to clear up other ques- tions concerning the preliminary plans oi the building. Mewhinney dis- missed the concerns of the site plan review committee concerning the building location as not being "major." MYS tm-PAGES