Perth Amboy evening news. [volume] (Perth Amboy, N.J.) 1903-1959, 1920-12-15
NEW PLANT To
COST MILLION
Many Vast Buildings to Take
Place of Those Destroyed
BY Fire at Barber Plant.
TO ERECT NEW MILLS
Company Seeks to Have City
Vacate Street in Order to
Build New Units.
TO ERECT NEW MILLS

Considerable over a million dol
lars will be spent by the Barber AS
phalt Paving company in rebuild
ing the section of their plant in this
city which was destroyed by fire on
September 26. The plans for the
reconstruction of the plant call for
many changes. principal among
those Being the locating of the new
roofing plant on the southwest side
of the Pennsylvania railroad. at the
junction point where this road con-
meets with the Central Railroad of
New Jersey. the new plant being di-
rectly opposite the present oil RE
finery of the company, which is To-
Gated on the northwest side of the
junction point of these two railroads.
The space formerly given over to
the roofing department in the pres
ent factory site. was but few hum
dred feet from the steamboat dock
on the Staten Island sound, and by
leaving this space vacant and clean
ing up the refuse from the fire, the
company will be given considerable
more room for the storage of crude
asphalt
A total of sixteen acres has been
set aside by the company on the par
eel of ground they own along the
railroad track for the roofing plant.
Although all of the sixteen acres will
not be used by the new plant, which
is about to be built, it is reasoned
that the sixteen acres devoted to the
manufacture of roofing prepara-
-tions, will be enough to take care of
any additions that may be necessary
in the future as the demand in
reases.
Four buildings for use in the man.
ufacture of the roofing will be built
on the new location. One of these
buildings will be felt storage build
ing, where the raw material will be
stored. This building will be 62x200
feet, one story high, and construct
ed of brick and steel. There will be
two factory buildings, devoted to the
manufacture of the roofing products.
These will be constructed of rein
forced concrete, SO by 255, one story
high. The fourth building will be
warehouse for the finished product.
This building will be 140 by $50 feet.
two stories high, of concrete con-
struction.
Some time ago the Barber Com
pany petitioned the board of alder
men for permission to close up a
street near their plant. This So
called street runs across the prop
erty. which the company will use for
the site of the new roofing plant. to
a switch on the Pennsylvania rail-
road The road is used only when
car of freight is to be unloaded or
loaded which it is said is very sell
dom. About a mile of railroad track
will be laid in the new plant before
operations begin.
In the main plant the only re-
building work which will take ,place
will be that of rebuilding the pow
erhouse, machine shop, store house
and several of the stills which were
destroyed in the blaze. 1t is plan
ned to have the stills completed and
ready for operation by the time the
paving season begins in the spring.
Prior to the fire the company had a
total of twenty-five stills, twelve of
this number were destroyed. Only
eight will be rebuilt. which means
that the total number of stills to be
operated by the company will be
eighteen, or four less than was op-
Grated before the fire.
The machine shop and store
house will be built of re-enforced
concrete. while the power house will
be constructed of brick.
The rebuilding of the plant, how
ever, will not increase the capacity
over the old establishment to any
great extent. However. the COM
pany plans within the course of the
next two or three years to erect a
felt mill on the property to be util-
ized for the roofing plant At the
present time company goes into the
open market and purchases the felt
which is used in the manufacture of
the felt roofing, but with the COM
pletion of feft mill. this material
will be manufactured here. When
the company some time ago made
application to the city for water, it
was with the idea of using this wa
ter in the operation of the felt MILL
During the winter months the COM
pany employees about 500 men, but
during the rush of the summer sea-
son the number employed reaches
l 200 men or more.