BREAKING GROUND -- Bermuda-based ACE Ltd. yesterday officially broke ground on the site of its new global headquarters on Pitts Bay Road in Hamilton. Taking a turn at the spades yesterday were ACE chairman, president and chief executive officer Brian Duperreault (above photo, left) and Finance Minister Grant Gibbons.

Conyers & Associates, Bermuda Project Managers, and Sea Land Construction are involved in the project.

ACE plans on constructing two buildings on the site totalling about 120,000 square feet of office space. There will be an underground parking lot for 240 cars and 190 motorbikes, and a health club.

The building -- a four-storey structure -- is expected to be ready for occupancy in November next year. A model of the building is also shown in a second photograph. The second building, a five-storey block with 50,000 square feet of office space, is not part of the planned construction.

"ACE is committed to Bermuda long-term,'' Mr. Duperreault stated in a press release. "We currently employ 200 people in the three ACE companies that are located in Bermuda and at the ACE Day Care and Nursery. Seventy-five percent of our employees are Bermudians.'' Exel Ltd. will be putting up two other buildings for its headquarters.