Story (09-29-2004)

A look at the history of the "Ad Building" — Part 2

By D. Ray Smith — With the break up of the contracts in Oak Ridge beginning in 1999, there was a return to only Y-12 contractor management and Y-12 government oversight offices being located in Building 9704-2. Bob Van Hook replaced Gordon Fee as Martin Marietta Energy Systems manager with only Y-12 responsibilities until November 2000 when BWXT Y-12 won the contract.

John Mitchell and a host of new people formed a new leadership team. In the past, contractor changes had brought only one or, at most, a few new faces; however, the change to BWXT Y-12 was much more drastic with a vast majority of all top level managers being new and moving into the building.

Major change was indicated by the removal of all the photographs of past plant managers from the wall. We have saved these photos and have plans to place them in the new building to be constructed just north of 9704-2. [If we can find a photograph of John Mitchell, we plan to include his as well. And, of course, we will include Dennis Ruddy (and we have photos of Denny) who replaced John Mitchell, and who has brought even more change to our culture.]

Thus, 9704-2, the Y-12 Administration Building, has seen major evolutionary changes over its life of some 60 years. Some of the changes have been exciting, some drastic, some gradual, but all changes have been made with one goal in mind — to assure that Y-12 continues to be the national treasure that it is and that the people who work in all our buildings are able to do our nationally important jobs well.

Y-12 serves the nation in many major ways that are fully understood by a few and that result in freedom being something we have come to expect and the rest of the world is able to enjoy. From the first mission to create the material for the atomic bomb, to the cold war, to the support of NASA and nuclear nonproliferation — all of these varied missions have been accomplished with decisions made and strategies created by the people who have occupied the Y-12 Administration Building over the years.

As we transition to the next phase of the history of the administration of Y-12, we want to do so without losing the historical memory of what took place in Building 9704-2. To help future generations of Y-12 employees understand the significance of our past history, a wall in the new building will be dedicated to telling the story of the old Y-12 Administration Building.

Before 9704-2 was demolished, brass door pulls and stairway handrails were removed and will be recycled in the new office building, which will be located just north of the 9704-2 location. The brass pulls will be placed in the main glass entrance doors. Framed photographs and printed historical information will be included in the new building's lobby and entrance way. These artifacts will be appropriately labeled to recall the history of the 9704-2 Administration Building.

The Y-12 Administration Building has a long and storied history. Many who worked in the building over the years have fond memories of their days there. Shirley Goins occupied space there for 20 of her 35 years with Y-12 and worked with 11 different managers over that time. She is likely the person who has spent the most time there and "trained" the most new arrivals — some of whom had never even been in Y-12 before.

Goins says of her 20 years in 9704-2 that, after all, it is "just a building, but the wonderful people that I worked with over those years made it such a special place to me because I spent more time there than I did in my home. It is the people that made the 'Ad Building' so special and really all of Y-12 such a special place to work. This place surely is unique and very special to me because of the people, the really wonderful people here."