TORONTO -- (CNW) - The face of Toronto is changing. First Canadian Place, Canada's tallest building and the home of BMO Financial Group's corporate offices, is getting a new look.

Along with the redesign of buildings in the Toronto core, Toronto has also seen a growth in new development sites from new condominium complexes by Concord on the Western Quay to a new hotel site by New York millionaire, Donald Trump.

For several weeks now, Luis Munoz and Joao Fonseca of Gem Campbell Inc. have been perched 72 stories above the Toronto skyline carefully going about the painstaking work of replacing the old M bar logo on the south face of First Canadian Place with BMO's new roundel logo.

"This has probably been the most exciting, yet most complicated, project I've worked on in my 38 years in design and construction," says Ken Villiers, Managing Director, Design and Project Management, BMO Financial Group.

"We started planning about a year ago," says Villiers. "It took a lot of strategic work to get everything in place because we've never done anything like this before."

"It's the best billboard in Canada," said Michael Beckerman, Senior
Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer, BMO Financial Group.
"When FCP was first constructed in 1976, the original BMO logo was built right into the marble slabs that clad the structure," continues Villiers. "The sign was recessed into the marble to make sure that it didn't interfere with the window cleaning equipment. Now that we're replacing it, we're actually replacing part of the building."

Villiers said that 128 brand new marble slabs are being installed around the logo itself which -- were you able to stand right in front of it -- would rise nearly 6 metres high and nearly 20 metres long. Each meticulously cut slab of marble is roughly 1 metre square and weighs in at a hefty 90 kilograms. They're individually numbered and labeled to fit into exactly the right spot with holes drilled in strategic locations for the metal supports that hold them in place.

It takes about 12 to 14 weeks to replace each logo. "We can only replace so much at a time. First of all, the swing stage is only rated for 550 kilos -- so that means two workers are limited to taking up or down four panels per trip. Secondly, we can't work between October and April because the winter winds are far too strong and would pose a serious safety hazard." Not only that, but since there is no direct elevator access to the roof, the new marble has to be raised and the old slabs lowered very carefully by hand down through a shaft to the level below!

Behind each roundel logo is a room where workers can get access to the back of the sign for needed repairs and to change the bulbs that light them. "The rooms get pretty warm with all the lights on, so they are individually vented to keep them comfortable enough to work in," says Villiers.

The best thing about working on a job like this is the view," says Paul Szczucinski, Project Management, PCL Constructors. "Since we're working on the south face, we have a great view of the harbour, and when the Canadian International Air Show is on, we'll have the best seats in the city!"