[dell72]

I live in Janesville, have all my life. My father retired from there as a millwright and almost everyone I grew up with had a parent who worked there. At one time GM was a huge part of this city and when the plant closed it affected a large number of people from this area including myself. The truth is the plant has been closed for the last decade and it has been mostly forgotten by people here. People affected by the closure went back to school and pursued other means of employment. All the while the old plant has sat idle becoming a crumbling and dilapidated form of its old self. The people of Janesville still have the memories of the old GM plant but the people have moved forward and the plant does not have the same meaning to the people of this area as it once used to. The truth about the plant is that it is very old with several additions made over the decades. It is surrounded by residential homes and is located deep within the city, far from the interstate. When the plant was open the people who lived near the plant often complained about the smells of paint and chemicals from the manufacturing process, the congested traffic associated with trucks traveling in and out of the area and shift change traffic problems. So while there are many fond memories of the plant while it was in operation, there were also several problems that are not missed.