The ThunderBlogs

The hiss of discharged air from beneath the tour bus punctuated the low hum of traffic as vehicles traversed the dull grey Granville Street Bridge high above. Tourists stepped onto the brick and rail-lined street and gazed up at the Ocean Construction Limited concrete factory.  A tall glass case outside the factory, surrounded on three sides by an elbow-high blue fence, drew pointed fingers and aimed cameras in spite of the reds and yellow of the nearby studios, restaurants and market.

A network of wires inside the case shuttled a red ping pong sized ball through a system of grooves, pullies, levers, drops and chutes. Onlookers craned their necks while pointing and pressing their hands against the thick glass as they followed the ball’s spiraling downward path into a miniature mixing truck. A chorus of muddled accents and dialects worked to grasp the exhibit’s metaphor: the mixing of cement, gravel and water to form concrete.

With its six silos blocking out the towers on the south side of False Creek, the concrete factory’s collection of uniformly grey buildings broke with Granville Island’s more colourful buildings. A cris-crossing network of three conveyor belts links the silos with a tall, narrow building to the front, and a shorter structure to the right. The company’s slogan – “concrete solutions for a sustainable world” –  branded an off white tower to the east of the silos. A nearby sign tells that despite appearances, the factory was one of the Island’s oldest tenants.

Rather than immediately walk past what appears to be a functionally industrial corner of the Island, visitors were drawn to the factory and its exhibit. Stroller-bound children pointed towards the factory’s exhibit while being shuttled by parents up Old Bridge Street. Elderly tourists crossed the street and took in the factory’s tall, grey landscape. Twenty-something couples held hands and slowly circulated the exhibit’s glass case. A few feet to the west, the open and unattended security gates encouraged three adventurous tourists to sneak into the parking lot for a quick picture with one of the mixing trucks.

The latest busload of tourists doddled along from the factory towards the electronic guitars and synthesizers of nearby buskers as another tour bus pulled up in front of the factory. Within seconds, the migration towards to factory began again: another group beginning their day at Granville Island with a bit of industry and history.