Construction began anew in our subdivision once spring came.And this time it wasn't so much about digging holes as it was about paving them over and completing what had not been finished the year before.The tar truck never came back,as far as I could tell,and,after our misadventure of the summer before,I'm sure that was a relief to my parents.It must have been a bit on the annoying side too,getting your car all covered in fresh oil or tar every time you drove home.
Back in 1965,the construction companies never seemed to take a lot of precautions to make sure their sites were safe,or that they didn't make a huge mess.None of the sites around our house were fenced off and there was a lot of construction junk lying all over the place.We used to play in some of the foundations for the new houses that were going in,and I often wonder why no one was seriously hurt or even killed doing that.When the construction equipment was idle in the evening,some kids would even play on and around that.
The street we lived on was already paved,and had been from the time we moved in.Most of the other streets around were not.During the spring,summer and fall of 1965,a lot of pavement was laid down.Trucks came and went all day and there was a new sort of machine going up and down the streets too.It was a large sort of tractor with a hopper like device in it's front end.Into this hopper,trucks would drop hot pavement,then the tractor would spread it out all over the road surface.Behind would come equipment that would roll the pavement out flat while it was still smoking hot.The whole process involved an incredible amount of heat and foul smelling smoke.For a time the whole area reeked of hot asphalt and oil most of the time,at least during the day.
Once there was even a fire in the paving machine,long after the workers had left for the day.It wasn't a very big fire,but it brought several fire trucks,and every kid for blocks around running.By the time I got there,there didn't seem to be any fire.But it was in the hopper of the paving machine.A bit of asphalt must have been left there and since the machine would stay hot for quite some time it caught fire.In a likelihood it would have just burned itself out,but what better excuse for some kid to pull the handle on the alarm box.
Down at the end of our street,across Mountain Road,there was new development happening too.What had been a field when we moved in was being turned into a new Kmart store.The construction site seemed enormous,and likely was,for it's time.But in fact, when it was finished it wasn't much bigger than a small strip mall with less than a dozen stores.By today's standards it was small.It opened sometime just before I started school.
In the opposite direction,up the street,work was beginning on a new school.It was to have two wings connected to a central part,and was two stories high.It took up the whole of a city block,on Ayre Avenue,between Crandall and Birchmount Streets.It must have seemed huge to my parents who were used to much smaller communities.My mother had taught school for a while,in a small,one room school house that housed children of all grades.I had been in that school once,and I wouldn't be surprised if it would have fit thirty times into our new school.The fact that we could go to a school without using the bus,and the fact that there would be no outdoor plumbing at this school were likely huge selling points when it came time for my parents to decide where to buy a home.
Our subdivision was called the Birchmount and the new school was to be called Birchmount School,after the street of the same name.Except that Birchmount Street wasn't yet completed.There were a few older houses at it's far end,then rows and rows of new but unfinished houses streachin the four or so blocks to the school.Moreover,construction on Ayre Avenue had just started,and only on one side of the street.Once they started building the houses on Birchmount,the subdivision came together quickly,though it took longer to complete Ayre Avenue.All of that started happening about a year after we moved to town.
Back in 1965,the construction companies never seemed to take a lot of precautions to make sure their sites were safe,or that they didn't make a huge mess.None of the sites around our house were fenced off and there was a lot of construction junk lying all over the place.We used to play in some of the foundations for the new houses that were going in,and I often wonder why no one was seriously hurt or even killed doing that.When the construction equipment was idle in the evening,some kids would even play on and around that.
The street we lived on was already paved,and had been from the time we moved in.Most of the other streets around were not.During the spring,summer and fall of 1965,a lot of pavement was laid down.Trucks came and went all day and there was a new sort of machine going up and down the streets too.It was a large sort of tractor with a hopper like device in it's front end.Into this hopper,trucks would drop hot pavement,then the tractor would spread it out all over the road surface.Behind would come equipment that would roll the pavement out flat while it was still smoking hot.The whole process involved an incredible amount of heat and foul smelling smoke.For a time the whole area reeked of hot asphalt and oil most of the time,at least during the day.
Once there was even a fire in the paving machine,long after the workers had left for the day.It wasn't a very big fire,but it brought several fire trucks,and every kid for blocks around running.By the time I got there,there didn't seem to be any fire.But it was in the hopper of the paving machine.A bit of asphalt must have been left there and since the machine would stay hot for quite some time it caught fire.In a likelihood it would have just burned itself out,but what better excuse for some kid to pull the handle on the alarm box.
Down at the end of our street,across Mountain Road,there was new development happening too.What had been a field when we moved in was being turned into a new Kmart store.The construction site seemed enormous,and likely was,for it's time.But in fact, when it was finished it wasn't much bigger than a small strip mall with less than a dozen stores.By today's standards it was small.It opened sometime just before I started school.
In the opposite direction,up the street,work was beginning on a new school.It was to have two wings connected to a central part,and was two stories high.It took up the whole of a city block,on Ayre Avenue,between Crandall and Birchmount Streets.It must have seemed huge to my parents who were used to much smaller communities.My mother had taught school for a while,in a small,one room school house that housed children of all grades.I had been in that school once,and I wouldn't be surprised if it would have fit thirty times into our new school.The fact that we could go to a school without using the bus,and the fact that there would be no outdoor plumbing at this school were likely huge selling points when it came time for my parents to decide where to buy a home.
Our subdivision was called the Birchmount and the new school was to be called Birchmount School,after the street of the same name.Except that Birchmount Street wasn't yet completed.There were a few older houses at it's far end,then rows and rows of new but unfinished houses streachin the four or so blocks to the school.Moreover,construction on Ayre Avenue had just started,and only on one side of the street.Once they started building the houses on Birchmount,the subdivision came together quickly,though it took longer to complete Ayre Avenue.All of that started happening about a year after we moved to town.
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