What catches the attention of people driving

Along the winding, stone walkway to the Clarks Companies North America's new logistics center there is a large boulder and plaque commemorating the American bicentennial, dedicated in 1976 by active and retired employees of the Hanover Shoe Company. Clarks acquired the "Spirit of Freedom" rock when it purchased Hanover Shoe and its Carlise Street headquarters in 1978 and the memorial has moved along with the company.

Clarks officials now expect that boulder and plaque to be at its new location for quite a long time. The new 451,000-square-foot distribution facility, which will include the latest in material-handling technology, is being built with the company's future needs in mind.

"Everything in here is built to expand," Clarks operation specialist Dan Bair said during a tour of the facility last week. "We have stages of development for this facility."

The company announced last week it had completed the construction phase of the logistics center, which will handle the distribution of up to 50 million pairs of shoes each year to North America and Central America when it becomes operational in 2014.

What catches the attention of people driving by is the sheer size of the facility, a massive structure nearly 80 feet tall and hundreds of feet long.

But the exterior of the building is distinctive and designed to lessen its impact visually and environmentally. The building has 30,000 square feet of exterior glass, a mix of pale colored panels on the front, and an arched roof.

"We wanted to make the appearance of this building that, based on the coloring scheme, would blend into the environment a little bit," said Leonard Bucher, vice president of logistics for Clarks. "I haven't talked to anybody in the community that isn't excited and said 'wow, that's a neat building.Learn more about the different types of laser marking machine.' It absolutely does not look like your typical warehouse-type building."

"We did not want a big box sitting in a field. We wanted it to blend in so it just doesn't stand out against the sky,laser cutter is a technology that uses a laser to cut materials," said Bair, who has been with the company for 25 years. "We want to keep that natural look."

The distribution facility is also created with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification as the goal, officials said.Is this my last chance for a bobblehead giveaway this season?

That plentiful use of exterior glass allows for maximum natural lighting. There is also a rainwater collection system that will hold water from the roof and reuse it for toilets. Much of the parking and driving areas have pervious concrete that allows water from precipitation and other sources to pass directly through and reduces runoff and helps groundwater recharge.

"We're doing a bunch of things from an environment and sustainability perspective," Bucher said. "We went up in height so we could reduce our footprint on the land a little bit.

"It's neat we can do those things. They are all incremental costs," he said.No shedding and no smell about our virgin malaysian hair weave. "We'll get some savings out of utility costs and lighting costs and some of those things, but most importantly it will be a better working environment for our people and a site that everybody will want to drive by."

Inside, things are designed with a healthy work environment in mind. A spacious cafeteria, with booths and walls painted in vibrant blue, red, green and yellow, will be self-checkout. Items such as cartons of milk will be available for purchase so employees don't have to stop on the way home.

"We wanted a place they would want to come to work," said Bair, noting how much time people spend at their jobs.

Amidst the smell of new carpeting, Bair showed off clean, empty offices and one conference room after and another, all with the same color schemes of blue, red, green and yellow.revenue and contact information for priscillacraft Attorney. There a main entrance that is a drastic change from the company's current logistics center across the street on Kindig. At that building, visitors are directed to a single white door that opens to a small entrance room and then a climb up concrete steps to the second floor offices.

The new building will have a grand foyer with room enough to display the various models of shoes Clarks manufactures and distributes.