Bermuda?s first drive-through car wash is on its way, and it will be a family affair with the former owners of the Wok Restaurant ? Art and Sharon Riviere ? being joined in the venture by their daughters, Danielle and Denise.

The site for the new business, just west of Masters and on the road leading to Bulls Head car park, is currently under development with the family anticipating an opening in spring, 2004.

Going from the Wok to a car wash might be a stretch for some, but what is obvious almost from the moment you meet the Rivieres, is that they are entrepreneurial and not afraid to work hard.

That drive seems to have been passed on from one generation to the next, with both daughters working other jobs ? Danielle is a substitute teacher while Denise has her own consulting business, OD Solutions International ? at the same time as pitching in on the new enterprise.

Danielle is handling the public relations, and Denise the marketing while Dad manages the operation and Mum takes over the administrative work.

Mrs. Riviere is also multi-tasking with her involvement in the family business coinciding with her set up of a charitable foundation ? Big G ? to help different countries around the world.

But the daughters are only too happy to be on board, with Denise saying it is an opportunity to pay back her parents for their ?education and food being on the table all those years?.

In getting ready to launch the car wash, the family ? except for Danielle ? went on the Annual Car Wash Convention held in Las Vegas in September.

There they learned about best practices from car wash facilities across America and in October, participated in Car Wash Operations Training in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Now the family is overseeing site development and are itching to get the car wash up and running, as they have had such a positive response for the service from all they have spoken with.

Standing at the site yesterday, which was actually land owned by extended family, Mr. Riviere reflected on how he got to where he is today.

Originally from the West Indies, he came to Bermuda in 1961 to visit family here. It was, as a describes it, a ?passing through? but the brief trip would change the rest of his life as he met the Bermudian who would later become his wife.

As fate would have it, Mrs. Riviere?s family had a New York apartment directly across the hall from an apartment owned by some of Mr. Riviere?s family. It was on American soil, therefore, that the two next met.

In the years to come, the two married, started a family and moved between the US and Bermuda with Mr. Riviere served time in the US Army and then later worked in the office supplies business.

Having chalked up plenty of experience working for others, Mr. Riviere?s entrepreneurial streak took hold in the late 1980s with his decision to strike out on his own and open the Wok Restaurant on Bermudiana Road.

He said that his decision followed his thinking that ?there must be more to life than working 50 weeks to get two weeks off?, which prompts his daughters to chime in that now he does not take any holiday.

Mr. Riviere concedes that the reality of being a business owner is that instead of putting in eight hours a day, you often find yourself doing double duty and it not being uncommon to work up to 16 hours.

In 1984, the Rivieres moved back to Bermuda and a few years later opened the Wok, which focused on take-out and was open longer hours than some other eateries. Last year, the Rivieres sold the business and hatched the plan for the car wash.

Speaking of the new venture yesterday, the Rivieres told that they could not have found a better spot in Hamilton for what is to be called Bulls Head Car Wash.

The site is in close proximity to two major parking lots ? Bulls Head and the parking area at Bermuda Athletic Association ? was also cited as one of the few spots in Hamilton that would have been available and suited to this sort of business.

Although morning traffic considerations have meant the business was only given the green light to open from 10 a.m., customers will be able to take advantage of a key drop-off programme whereby the car wash will get the car from its parking spot, wash and return it once finished.

In terms of access to water, the location also get high marks with the Rivieres saying it was in a prime location regards to water access.

The car wash?s main water supply will be provided by Watlington Water Works. In addition, neighbouring businesses, Masters Limited and Pearman Watlington, have granted access to their unused water, which will serve as a reserve supply for the car wash.

In addition, the Rivieres have put in a reclaim tank, in addition to two other tanks holding 12,000 gallons, as the car wash system they are putting in place is designed to filter, clean and recycle 25 percent of the water for re-use in the pre-wash process.

In keeping with environmental requirements, the Rivieres have also carefully considered how to dispose of detergents and cleaning chemicals, which will not be dumped into the water basin, but be processed through the City Sewage Plant. The need to be able to do this meant that the business could only be based in Hamilton.

Of course, as with any new business, the Rivieres said they had hit some bumps along the way. For instance, the low level of the land means that they were only three feet above the water table.

As a result, and with the help of their architect Paul James of Design Source International, the Rivieres had to put in special below ground fibreglass tanks.

The family said that once open, their mission was to provide the never-before-in-Bermuda service with attention to doing a good job, and doing it as quickly as possible.

Denise Riviere said: ?It is a simple service that comes down to speed and quality of customer service.?

She added that they will be offering the drive-through service for those who only want to wash the outside of their vehicle while pit crews will also be on hand to do an express detail service that results in a clean car, inside and out.