End of an Era

It’s probably around 8:30AM ET on Wednesday, February 7, 2001 as I drive up to the main entrance of the IBM Southbury Campus. I spent the previous two days in my new hire orientation at the IBM Learning Center in Armonk, NY and it’s now my first official day as an IBMer. I’m both nervous and excited to start my career as I sit in the lobby waiting for someone on my team to come and get me.

The next three years were filled with fun, excitement, stress and frustation. I worked with great people (smart and innovative) and learned a ton in my first working years.

A few weeks back a current customer mentioned that they were looking to hold a workshop at their office in Connecticut. While looking at travel options for the trip I realized that I would be within 30 minutes of where I lived almost 20 years ago. I likely won’t have many options to be back in this area of the country so I decided that while I was there I should find some time to drive around and visit.

The first place I planned to visit was IBM Southbury. While searching for some current information on the site I ran across the following article on CT Insider. IBM shutdown the campus in January of this year. The news came as no surprise, but it looks like I’ll miss my opportunity to see the site again. I remember hearing from an old teammate that Building A had been closed down a few years after I left the company. The Southbury Campus had been slowly becoming a ghost town for years.

As of today, I’m still waiting for final confirmation on the trip, but if I do have the chance to get back up there you can best believe I’ll be driving around the area and doing some reminiscing about the past. I’m hopeful that I might be able to see the old campus, but only if I won’t be arrested for trespassing.

Thanks for the memories IBM Southbury!