Not surprised. Rumors had been flying for awhile. Too bad they are splitting up Vaccines into different places - some to UG others to Bldg 39. The beginning of the end for MV as we know it before it is integrated into the pharma business.
Yup. Memo went out this week. Future MVD home to be determined. Probably UG. The offices are half empty.
Very unlikely. They've been saying that last for past 20 years but the building has too much asbestos that it's better to leave it alone. Too costly to remove safely.
Bldg 1 is on a 4 foot thick reinforced concrete pad that covers up a vast toxic chemical dumpsite. The building's only purpose is to protect that concrete barrier from degradation by time and the elements, and to provide snack rooms and television for union "employees" to shirk work assignments.
I believe your thinking of the paved area behind Bldg 78, commonly referred to as the "monkey pit". For decades they apparently dumped all kinds of waste there. Before they paved it about 10 years ago they had to spend months installing all kinds barriers on the ground before they could lay the blacktop.
That is true also, but Bldg 1 predates all that and was built earlier last century to ameliorate all the toxic waste that Merck was generating before they realized it was a problem.
Merck didn't build Bldg 1. It was already there when they bought the land. It was ballbearing factory during WWII.
I worked in the sales training department when it was in the front of the building approximately 30 years ago. Came in on a Monday morning and went back into the AV room. Seeping through the concrete floor was a half inch of oil that smelled awful. Crew arrived, pushed us out the door, and worked on the problem for one week. We came back and an additional four inches of concrete solved the leak problem. I wouldn't want to be involved in cleaning that site.
