STORY TURNED OUT TO BE ANYTHING BUT ROUTINE

I almost stumbled on a major story as I tried to gain entry to the former
Molson property two months ago.

In an effort to find out more about one of the tenants of the former
brewery building, my editor asked me to pull together a brief item on a new
business.

Last November, a simple sign, saying "Aurora Beverages" was spotted
adorning the Highway 400 facade of the main plant. An attempt to find a
telephone listing, or any information about the firm on the Internet,
proved fruitless.

A call to Barrie's economic development office yielded the name of the
leasing agent, a Toronto commercial real estate firm, hired to find tenants
for the 125,000-square-foot factory. The company had placed a large sign
fronting onto the highway, advertising the property. A telephone request
for a contact name and phone number for Aurora Beverages went unanswered
and a visit to the site was met with silence.

The daily flood of other news items soon moved the Molson business story to
the back burner.

Nothing more was done until the police raid on the plant on Saturday, Jan.
10. That afternoon, I called the leasing agent again, asking if they could
supply any information about tenants in the building.

Once again, no response was received.

As it turned out, there seems there was an obvious reason no one wanted a
news story about any business at the brewery.