Ice River Springs to Open in Pittsfield, MA

The former building used by KB Toys Incorporated has been purchased by a Canadian company. Ice Springs River Water Co. of Feversham, Ontario, Canada, plans to use the 251,640-square-foot building to manufacture plastic water bottles. The purchase means a lot for the residents of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Ice Springs River Water is planning to hire 50 residents for jobs at its manufacturing plant. The company would like to add another 50 jobs over the next three to five years. This will all depend on how well the location operates and how overall business continues to grow. The goal is to have the building up and running by the end of 2007.

Purchasing of the building turned out to be a longer process than city officials had hoped for. They originally believed that the building would be purchased when Ice Springs first visited and took a tour. At the time, the company decided to not purchase the building and to talk more about it. They decided to purchase the building after several meetings and a second tour of the facility.

The distribution center is several thousand square feet. Inside the facility you will find 23 dock doors, as well as parking spaces for 40 trailers and 50 plus employees. It also appears that the main office is 5,300 square feet of space. The shipping area and receiving office is 800 square feet of manufacturing space. KB Toys used the building to help manufacture toys for several years. The only reason that they sold the building was due to financial problems that the company was facing a few years ago. They filed for bankruptcy and the building had to be sold as a result.

Ice Springs River Water is a large plastic water bottle manufacturing company from Canada. They operate under the business name Blue Mountain Plastics, which produces bottles, caps, handles and preforms for the dairy, juice and vinegar industries, among others. The company also produces its own plastic bottles and caps to help the company save money.

Sources:

Berkshire Eagle. "West Housatonic St. windfall". [Online] 10 February 2007.
URL: http://www.berkshireeagle.com/headlines/ci_5200381