IBE-W - International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

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Would
The IBEW helps a City
Celebrate A
Momentous Occasion
o illmblis is proud. !t"s safe to say
C Columbus is bursting wi th pride­
Columbus. Ohio. th.t is. But Christopher
Columbus i. indeed" hat they·re
celebrating. this the SOOth Anniversary
of his faleful riTsl voyage [0 the ew
World.
And now the largest city in that New
Worl d named fo r the ex. plorer i~ commemorating
the event with a six-monlh
··Celebration of Discovery:· as they
call it. AmeriFiora ·92. Event planners
expect over 4 million visitors to attend.
maki ng it the largest single-site event
planned in honor of Columbus'
qui ncenrennial. Fresh from eciehraling
il~ own centennial. the I13 EW has been
right there every step of the way.
For ISEW Local 683. Columbus.
members. C hristopher Columbu" anniversary
started a fe w years early_ In
the rail of 1988 members employed by
Advantage Electric began electrica l
\,-,ork (In the Franklin Park Conserva-
The layout of AmeriFlora '92. The ej)(po
sits In rhe 88-acre Franklin Park, two
miles from downtown Columbus.
2
S/anding next 10 the Workers ' Memorial monument, which will
remain aNer rhe AmeriFlora expo has left. are Local 683 members J
(rom left, (fronl row) Howard Todd, Paul Fallt, Tim Lucas, Business
Manager Hoover, John O·Day. Bill Squeo and Gary Turner. These
ISEW members were among 400 union men and women and union
supporters who attended the dedication ceremony.
lory. a focal point of the AmeriFlora
project. "nlC con~erva l ory WiJ!'o originall
y built 100 years ago, and it remained
the focll s of gS-acre Frankli n
Park. home of' the AmeriFlora expo,
two miles east of downLown Columbus.
The new eleclrical work for the
conservatory involved reslOring the
conservalOry and expanding the SlrucfUre
to four time!' it:-. original size.
According 10 Local 683 Business
Manager M .L ." Joe" Hoover. " The fexpanded]
conservatory is laid out in five
different sections. each repre enting a
different environment. The arem. are:
'Tropical: 'Jungle: 'Desen: 'Palm
House: and ·Five Hundred Year Roam.'
They are composed of four different
buildings tied together in almost 100.000
squure feet of exhibit space.'· The project
was very d iffe relll from mOSt wiring
jobs. ··The job was built in layers." said
Brother Hoover. "starting with the subterrane.an
buildup. then din. rocks. (fees
and plants. The electric and plumbing
wen! in next. then more di n . rocks.
trees and plants. This went on until the
exhibits reached their fi nished he ight.
All mechanical and eleclrical work was
molded righ[ il1lo Ihe project:'
Olher aHraclions at the Amen Flora
expo incl ude a restored 1893 Loaff
tBEW JOURNAL/AUGUST 1992