"Governor Weld led a cadre of public officials and business leaders in saluting the revitalization and the creation of an estimated 3,500 new jobs at the 1.4 million-square-foot facility, believed to be the first and largest concrete industrial site in the United States when it was built in 1903."
"'The Shoe was a huge economic engine for the commonwealth,' Weld said of the site's thriving history in shoe machinery. 'We are trying nothing less than to revive the pride and patriotic legacy of manufacturing throughout Massachusetts... The history of 'The Shoe' [shows] the great employment possibilities manufacturing can provide.' "
Kathy McCabe
The Boston Globe
October 26, 1995