LOS ANGELES-In mid-July as the date of
the Democratic convention approached,
the managers of the Wells Fargo Center
here decided that the heavily glassed
facility needed increased protection
against glass breakage.
"We didn't want to
see a repeat of the
World Trade
Organization
conference in
Seattle here in L.A.,"
said Richard Ward,
director of security
for the Wells Fargo
Center. Earlier this
year, political
activists destroyed
numerous Seattle properties during
demonstrations against the WTO.
With that in mind, Ward contacted Jordan
Frankel, vice president of
"Shattergard window protection films", on
July 19, 2000. Ward placed
an installation order to coat approximately
10,000 square feet of first floor window
glass with the film. He stipulated that the
project be completed by Aug. 4, a week
before the convention began on Aug. 14.
"We're working 24 hours a day," Frankel
said.
The ShatterGard film strengthens glass up to 400
percent, according to Frankel, who said it
can withstand a baseball going 70 mph, a
shot from a small caliber gun, or an
explosion. The film was developed by
DuPont 20 years ago to protect temporary
military installations in foreign countries.
Frankel and partners
started the company
nearly six years ago
and went after
residential and
commercial contracts
as well as government
accounts. Current
clients include the FBI,
several U. S. Navy warfare centers, Zales
Jewelers and Bell South. The company has
dealers in 48 states and 10 countries.
The Wells Fargo job cost somewhere
between $100,000 and $125,000, Frankel
said. The same job using ballistic glass
would cost around $550,000, he noted.
Originally, Wells Fargo contracted with
Shattergard to "protect our glass" in the
facility's public areas such as the atrium.
"The atrium has a huge amount of glass, so
it's pretty inviting for people who want to
get the word out for their cause," Ward
said.
As the installation got underway, the
center's retail tenants also wanted
protection and joined the project,
according to Ward. "The installation has
really low impact, even if you're open for
business," he commented.
"They (Shattergard's installers) are real
quick. They're real clean. They leave the
area just the way they found it."
