One of the steel smokestacks of the former Globe Manufacturing building is removed Thursday. The one-time mill is being converted into a data center.

By Grant Welker Herald News Staff Reporter Posted Jul 01, 2010 @ 08:51 PM

FALL RIVER - In a few months, the Granite Block Global Data Center will open, and the transformation of one of downtown's largest old mill buildings will be complete.

The data center, where customers can lease space to store computers for their data systems, is under construction where Globe Manufacturing was once based. Floor space once occupied by huge machinery will once again hold machinery, but the kind that stores data for companies based anywhere in the world.

Much of the transformation of the Globe mill has been done out of the public eye. But on Thursday, construction crews knocked down four of the building's six rusty steel smokestacks, erasing part of the property's manufacturing past. Granite Block won't need the smokestacks or the boilers that go with them.

In fact, it won't need any heat at all, not even in the winter, said Roland Patenaude, the company's chief operating officer.

When the main room of the mill is filled with data equipment, the machines will emit so much heat that even on the coldest days, air conditioning will need to be used. The 160,000 square-foot data center can't simply open windows to cool the building because it must also control the humidity inside, Patenaude said.

While the data center will be nondescript, Granite Block is considering two potentially large-scale wind turbines for the site. It is permitted to build turbines of up to 350 feet, Patenaude said, but the company will first build a test tower to see what size turbine would be the best fit. Geothermal energy is also being considered to help cool the building.

Companies like hospitals and banks require data backup centers and they often prefer locations outside major cities, said Jules Cardin Jr., the company's chief financial officer. When complete in September or October, the data center should employ 50 to 60 people, mostly in electric, technology and security positions, the company says. It is also expected to attract about 2,000 visitors each month from those leasing space for computing.

"It's really going to be an economic engine," Cardin said.

Globe Manufacturing closed the mill in 2001 after it filed for bankruptcy and was later bought by an Italian company called RadiciSpandex.

Patenaude and company treasurer Karen Charette bought the property under the name Global Properties LLC in 2004 for $250,000, according to city records. The 5.8-acre property was last assessed at $1.7 million.

E-mail Grant Welker at gwelker@heraldnews.com.

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