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An ominous silence
It didn’t take long for the giant crane at the old Co-op construction site to be taken down and taken away earlier this week (see our cover photo and story on page 3, as well as the editorial cartoon opposite). But it was long enough for a thousand rumours to start floating around town as to the reason for its dismantling.
Newspapers aren’t big fans of rumours. They would rather get to the bottom of them by seeking the facts from those who know them. We’re no different, so we asked our reporter Nancy Melcher, who has covered the story about the troubles at First Leaside (the owner of the property and importer of the crane) since it first broke, to try and discover the truth. She sought answers from the two sources most likely to possess them
- First Leaside itself, and the company - S&S Transport International - which came to take the crane away (which may or may not be the same company that owns the crane). Unfortunately, she received no answers from either source. First Leaside said “no comment” and S&S Transport just didn’t return Nancy’s calls.
So we have nothing new to tell you, nothing from the horse’s mouth to counteract any of the rumours you might have heard. Has First Leaside declared bankruptcy? Maybe...
Has the company sold the property? Beats us. Was the property seized as a penalty for fraudulent activity? Who knows? Well, that’s wrong, we know who knows, but they’re not talkin’...
What we strongly suspect is that it’s going to take a few months for First Leaside to convince the Ontario Securities Commission to lift its no-trade order, and the company just didn’t see any point in continuing to pay the hefty monthly rent on the crane while the construction site sat idle. Makes sense to us. But if that’s the case, how difficult would it have been for the company to just issue a little news release telling us exactly that? “We’re pinching the pennies right now, folks, until we get the ship in order, so we sent the crane home, and we’ll bring it back as soon as construction is able to resume.” Good decision, we would all agree, and it not only shows us a light at the end of the tunnel, but demonstrates good stewardship as the company navigates its way through.
Since the no-trade ban came down, we’ve continued to express the fervent hope that the company will come through this just fine, and continue to erect the beautiful building the whole township was so excited about. But First Leaside’s refusal to say anything about the crane’s removal can’t help but feed a nagging doubt in our collective mind about the future of the company, and consequently, the future of the building. As one observer put it, is the partially-built structure going to be the largest stump ever seen?
Is Firebridge going to inherit a parking lot like it never dreamed of?
It’s one thing to withhold comment about First Leaside’s financial or legal situation, and quite another to decline to quench the speculative flames fanned by a simple decision to take down a crane. By refusing to talk to its neighbours, the company is slowly beginning to erode the good will in Uxbridge it worked so hard to create. And it may not be easy to re-build simply by bringing the crane back.
July 14, 2011
