Demolition of Pontiac East Assembly Plant
 

Youtube footage of the demolition of the Pontiac East Assembly plant, at the corner of Opdyke and Square Lake Roads, in Pontiac Michigan. They knocked the smoke stacks down earlier this week.

I've worked in this plant, launching product during the R/V, GMT400, GMT800 and GMT900 eras. Some of your trucks were likely built there.


The plant was in operation from 1972 through September of 2009.

K

http://www.wsws.org/images/2009sep/s30-pont-480.jpg

Re: Demolition of Pontiac East Assembly Plant
 

Thanks for posting Keith. It's sad to see that era come an end. A lot of great products came out of there and that plant provided good jobs to a lot of folks for many years.

Re: Demolition of Pontiac East Assembly Plant
 

very sad.. i watched em take down the Ford Ranger plant here in Edison about 2000. My first ranger was one of the last to come out of there... then a year or so later GM went and took down the Linden assembly plant where they made the S 10 pickup and sonoma..years later both have become strip malls.. it was sad to see both go and even sadder to see what went in their places.. but the saddest thing of all was there was once a thriving factory there making decent wages for its employees and now theres places that barely pay minumum wage.. and they call it progress

Re: Demolition of Pontiac East Assembly Plant
 

That is sad to see.

Is the plant in Pontiac where they would have built the 1960's trucks still around. I would assume it is not, but you never know.

Do you know if there are any pictures of it anywhere? I have tried looking, but just got pictures of the plant in the video above.

Re: Demolition of Pontiac East Assembly Plant
 

It's surely sad to see. The Baltimore truck plant is long gone as well. How much more can America take?

Re: Demolition of Pontiac East Assembly Plant
 

Not alot.. between the auto industry, mills, factories etc that left.. it hurt massive amounts of folks. I really like the "new trend" we have seen recently, of jobs coming back here.

I have local friends whom were laid off from Freightliner a few years ago. To watch these folks struggle to live the past few years has been horrible. They just called back the entire layoff and are adding jobs. Why? A few reasons; but one is a good sign.. a company ordered a fleet of trucks. From what we are told they demanded the trucks be made here in the states, and NOT in Mexico. I would love to know who that company is..

Re: Demolition of Pontiac East Assembly Plant
 

They tore both of the assembly plants down here (Fenton MO) where the Chrysler minivan and the Dodge Ram were made. One went to Mexico and the other to Canada. Besides the 5000 that worked in both plants people here are now seeing the effects of just how many more jobs and businesses it effects.

Re: Demolition of Pontiac East Assembly Plant
 

There once was a thing called "the building industry".

Re: Demolition of Pontiac East Assembly Plant
 

That would have been Pontiac West, at the corner of Woodward & South Blvd. Was only a few miles from Pontiac East Assembly. It too was demolished in the last few years. I believe in the 60-66 time frame they only made bigger trucks there such as C50 - C80, maybe C30's ??

Re: Demolition of Pontiac East Assembly Plant
 

I am on a expedite trucking board also and they have been talking about all the jobs that the auto industry has lost. And the relocttions taking place. there is several drivers that was in the auto industry that is bitter because of all the shut downs.

It isnt because people not buying new either. A lot is the upper management.

Re: Demolition of Pontiac East Assembly Plant
 

My 1/2 ton GMC (K1002) was built in Pontiac.