Constructing the Future

Although you may not notice it, things have been very busy for the E82 Project in the past month. Currently I’ve been very busy working on the next installment of The History of Imagination, Perfecting some desktop wallpapers to come, developing artwork for "An E82 Special Event" this Winter, as well as planning E82’s second year of discoveries. So while I’m busy “Constructing the Future” of E82 I thought this would be a perfect time to begin a new series based the final Construction of the Park itself.
30 days before opening of the “Newest Wonder of the World,” The EPCOT Center News Briefs provided daily progress reports for the many facets in bringing 21st century to life in 1982. (1) The following is the first in the series…

COMMENTARY

This flyer briefly (no pun intended) touches on one of the most impressive and underappreciated accomplishments of the EPCOT Center Project: the Concrete Pour. As was said in David Koenig’s Realityland: True-Life Adventures at Walt Disney World; the job was so massive that it was split between several contractors. All of them having to re-adapt to working around other disciplines simultaneous finishing their own works. So as not to be disturbed (or be disturbed by others) most of the work was done at night. “To accommodate around-the-clock construction in areas where electricity had yet to be installed, Disney bought in a hook-and-ladder fire truck to shine enough light to allow more than 100 concrete finishers to keep working. Disney chefs also showed up in the middle of the night to grill hamburgers for the graveyard shift laborers. To maximize every second, The Disney World weather station sent weather reports of the EPCOT jobsite every ten minutes. Construction workers then had advance notice to protect their freshly poured concrete from an approaching thunderstorm.” In order to accommodate the complex construction sites of Future World, World Showcase was completed first, and then zigzag out as other areas became available.
The Color of the pavement was one of many decisions made personally by John Hench. In his book, Designing Disney John described Pink as a very optimistic color. This, in addition other qualities including its neutral reflectiveness and contemporary feel, lead to his decision to make pink the overriding color for the pathways of tomorrow.

Foot Note
1. As part of a Cast Celebration, these flyers were reprinted daily as a countdown to the October 1st Anniversary of Epcot’s 25th year in 2007. I was working at Epcot at the time and these flyers although simple, were one of the coolest aspects of the celebration. I was always excited to come to work and read what interesting things happened on that same day 25 years ago.