Breaking New Ground—Stories from Defence Construction Breaking_new_ground | Page 54

Project: Centennial
Celebrations
Although DCL’s role in the 1967 World’s Fair—also
known as Expo 67—isn’t well known, it proved crucial
to the success of the project. Official sanction for Canada
as host wasn’t granted until November 13, 1962, leaving
less than five years to plan and build the fair—which
required the construction of a site in the middle of the
St. Lawrence River, where Ile Ste-Helene would double in
size and a new island, Ile Notre Dame, would be created.
This alone would require 25 million tons of fill—there
were also various national, regional and industrial
display pavilions, transportation links to Montreal, and
the Habitat 67 demonstration housing project.
The early days of the project brought significant delays,
resulting from the 1963 federal election, the debate
over the fair’s location in Montreal and political
disagreements between various levels of government
(which led to the resignation of Expo’s first top managers).
In the summer of 1963, Robert Shaw was appointed
the Deputy Commissioner General of the Canadian
Corporation for the 1967 World Exhibition (CCWE), and
within weeks requested DCL’s support.
This was a natural step: Shaw was also President of the
Foundation Company, which had been the contractor
for the EASE project (the Diefenbunker) in Carp, and
Shaw himself had earlier served as DCL’s first Chief
Engineer, so he was fully aware of DCL’s capabilities
and strengths.
Cabinet approved DCL running the contracting system
on December 9, 1963. Four days later, Terry Kelly was
sent to Montreal to get things started: he would remain
there almost four years. DCL eventually provided
engineering and administrative assistance to Expo,
including setting up the administrative procedures, and
aiding negotiations with professional consultants for
building and services designs. But DCL’s most substantial
and long-term assistance involved handling the tender
calls and the subsequent stages of contracts.
Many DCL personnel, including the entire management
staff, were involved in Expo 67 on an occasional basis,
but the company also provided three senior staff
members for the project on a full-time basis:
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DEFENCE CONSTRUCTION CANADA