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On Friday, July 18, 1997
at 3:00 p.m. during Zippo's
65th Anniversary & the
Zippo/Case
International
Swap Meet, the
red ribbon
was cut to open new
15,000-square-foot
Zippo/Case
Visitors
Center. It houses a large
Zippo / Case Store, the new
designed Zippo / Case Museum
&
the famous Zippo Repair
Clinic. The Visitors Center
is located at 1932 Zippo
Drive in Bradford,
Pennsylvania & greets
thousands of visitors from
around the globe every year.
Fourteen
5-foot custom-made Zippo
street lighters sitting on
12-foot posts line the drive
leading up to the building.
Over the entrance towers a
40-foot Zippo lighter with
pulsating
neon flame &
the initials GGB, a salute
to the company's founder
George Grant Blaisdell...
...& a 10-foot replica
of a classic bone-handled
Case Canoe three bladed
pocketknife.
The Zippo family Store &
museum that was located next
to the manufacturing
facilities
at Congress
Street & opened its doors to
visitors in late 1993 soon
became too small to
show
their past & present product
line. So plans were made to
find a new location as a
simple extension of the
existing family Store &
Museum was not an option.
Decisions were made to
build a completely new
facility and soon after the
perfect location
was
found just one block north
of Zippo Manufacturing
Company's production plant
on
Congress Street. On
Friday, July 19, 1996 during
the National Zippo Day
Celebration the
ground-breaking ceremony was
held between Congress &
Chestnut Streets - now known
as
1932 Zippo Drive.
Companies involved in
the construction of the new
Visitors Center were:
S.M. Gleason & Co. Inc.
General Contractors,
Bradford, PA
Carl Swanson
& Sons, Bradford, PA
- Monago's Floor
& Wall Covering, Bradford,
PA
DeSpirt Mosaic &
Marble Co., Inc., Buffalo,
NY -
Nickel Paint & Decorating,
Bradford, PA
George
Gigliotti Building,
Bradford, PA -
Preston R. Abbey Architects,
Inc., Bradford, PA
DuPont
Mechanical, Bradford, PA
- Taylor &
Armstrong Construction,
Inc., Bradford, PA
Ken
Schaming Paiting &
Decorating, Bradford, PA
- Pure Tech,
Inc., Bradford, PA
M.J.
Mechanical Services, Inc.,
Olean, NY -
Trahan Tile, Inc.,
Portville, NY
Mazza
Roofing Co., Olean, NY
Finally, about one year
after breaking ground, on
Friday, July 18, 1997 at
3:00 p.m.
the Zippo/Case
Visitors Center opened its
doors to public for the
first time.
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