Janesville Assembly’ To Be Demolished

[54blackhornet]

Another piece of history gone !

[B. W.]

That's too bad. My truck's from there, was the oldest operating plant until it was shuttered ( I thought they re-opened it!)

[custom10nut]

Hmm. Mine rolled off the Janesville line on 12 Jan 1970. I hope somebody takes pictures

[ericfallon]

Sad but it cost 2-3 times to update buildings than to bulldoz and start over..

[special-K]

Originally Posted by ericfallon

Sad but it cost 2-3 times to update buildings than to bulldoz and start over..

It's the American way. All about beans. Baltimore is long gone, too. But I find to hard to believe it can cost 2-3 times more to update what already exists than all the expense to demolish, dispose, excavate/grade, permits/Engineering/fees/sometimes studies, build at today's costs, and outfit with what was needed to upgrade the old place. Something wrong with this picture. I was just talking to a friend who is developing 7 lots about the crazy fees. dry wells are required for rain water drainage off the roof. Generally 4 holes and engineering costs about $6k per hole. His require 6, so 42 x $6,000 right there. Then the county wants something like that to study and approve. It goes on and on from there.

I think the tear downs are more about clearing the land to sell off to be developed for another use.

[DeadheadNM]

Here's an article about the sale of the plant: https://www.channel3000.com/news/dea...-say/675512304

And another about Janesville without the plant: https://www.theatlantic.com/business...future/523272/

[special-K]

I wonder if being found responsible for the contaminated sediment clean up has something to do with it. The wording says GM is "handing over" the property. I wonder if they are handing the problem over to this firm at an adjusted price just to wash their hands of it while gaining at least some revenue.

[Gromit]

This news makes me wanna bust out my metal detector and go out there and root around the site for buried sheet metal press dies.

I realize this is fantasy but it would be a crying shame if GM discarded those dies.

From what I can surmise I think sheet metal was pressed at or near the various assembly plants. For example a cab roof in Fremont was on a different press die than the Janesville ones; but someone on here actually knows - I don't..

I'd like to find the A and B (or top and bottom) sheet metal press dies for the 1967-1972 dashboard, the rear cab (especially small window), and all of the cab stamping dies..

Or the guy who made them..

[saxart]

Does anybody know when the Janesville plant is coming down?

[ericfallon]

Originally Posted by special-K

It's the American way. All about beans. Baltimore is long gone, too. But I find to hard to believe it can cost 2-3 times more to update what already exists than all the expense to demolish, dispose, excavate/grade, permits/Engineering/fees/sometimes studies, build at today's costs, and outfit with what was needed to upgrade the old place. Something wrong with this picture. I was just talking to a friend who is developing 7 lots about the crazy fees. dry wells are required for rain water drainage off the roof. Generally 4 holes and engineering costs about $6k per hole. His require 6, so 42 x $6,000 right there. Then the county wants something like that to study and approve. It goes on and on from there.

I think the tear downs are more about clearing the land to sell off to be developed for another use.

It is not the American way or all about the beans.

What was code back then, and what is code now, are two very different things, and to bring an older building up to todays codes, and to add all the stuff that was not avail back then. it cost 2 to 3 TIMES what it does to smash it and build new..
The contractors and developers didn't make and change the regulations .
Blame city hall.

[rustytruck50]

True what they say about not being able to beat City Hall.....Janesville is Raymond's (my '72) birthplace too.

[custom10nut]

Originally Posted by special-K

It's the American way. All about beans. Baltimore is long gone, too. But I find to hard to believe it can cost 2-3 times more to update what already exists than all the expense to demolish, dispose, excavate/grade, permits/Engineering/fees/sometimes studies, build at today's costs, and outfit with what was needed to upgrade the old place. Something wrong with this picture. I was just talking to a friend who is developing 7 lots about the crazy fees. dry wells are required for rain water drainage off the roof. Generally 4 holes and engineering costs about $6k per hole. His require 6, so 42 x $6,000 right there. Then the county wants something like that to study and approve. It goes on and on from there.

I think the tear downs are more about clearing the land to sell off to be developed for another use.

And that's the problem causing the Crumbling infrastructure

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by ericfallon

It is not the American way or all about the beans.

What was code back then, and what is code now, are two very different things, and to bring an older building up to todays codes, and to add all the stuff that was not avail back then. it cost 2 to 3 TIMES what it does to smash it and build new..
The contractors and developers didn't make and change the regulations .
Blame city hall.

Pretty much my thoughts also. I can't prove the numbers, but retrofitting older structures -- making them meet all current required standards -- must be hugely expensive. Probably not even possible in some cases. I'm sure it's far less costly, and much faster, to raze the old and built new from scratch.

[special-K]

I factor in the fact that they don't need that plant any more. It's not being torn down to build a new plant, so no speculating required there. Did someone pass blame on contractors or developers? It's not about the beans... cost effectiveness... when the option of tearing down is taken opposed to retro-fit due to the latter costing 2-3x as much? And, what I meant by the American way is we are the kings of the knock down compared to around the world. All this is absolutely about the money. It was a business decision, after all.

Huge dead factories don't speak well for a city. So city hall loves to see this go. One of the articles I read were on that topic.

[ericfallon]

Comparing a brick box to the art deco building around the world is not fair.
I doubt that factory building was built to last forever. and that can be a problem even if they did retro fit it. Bricks and concrete don't last forever.
Industry here didn't build artful buildings for the most part .
It is sad when history is lost but, no one stepped up to buy it and rebuild/update it..
Mostly because of the hazardous crap it was made with..
I wonder if a soil test has been done ,As I'm sure they will require one before anything is built on that lot.

[DeadheadNM]

The 2 million sq ft Uniroyal plant in Eau Claire closed in the early 90's but was repurposed and still stands today: http://www.weau.com/content/news/The...431374653.html

[ZEKE68]

"Hmm. Mine rolled off the Janesville line on 12 Jan 1970. I hope somebody takes pictures"
custom10nut, How did you find out would date your truck was built? My 1968 was built at the Fremont plant in 1967 but I don't know the date. I guess this is a hijack huh?

[special-K]

I guess we'd all have to do a cost analysis to really know. I know the types of things that need dealt with for a modern retrofit and the reasons, but on the same token, a new constructed building has fees/costs that were never imagined not so long ago. Studies, tests, engineering, code requirements are all at greater expense today or are entirely new costs. These need to be factored in against those update costs for the retrofit. Cost of materials, steel and concrete for instance, are in a whole new realm today. But like I said, it's not being town down to be replaced with a new factory anyway. They tore down the old Bethlehem steel plant in Baltimore and built a huge Amazon facility to sell all those products imported from China. Tear down an American icon industry to make way for a place to sort imported products.

Europe has always remained far less a throw away society than us. More about preservation and use of what already exists.

[54blackhornet]

I was disappointed to see no views or reply’s so I did not think anyone cared ?...

[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.

[toolboxchev]

Its for sure, we are still attached and detached. It's also an iconic part of history that will be missed to some extent. People made a living, had families, produced, earned, learned, and thrived. Problems exist in every business despite their day to day operations.

The products produced their helped America make its way through troubled times. Those vehicles are still in use today, some worse off than others. I just watched a Paper Mill in Oregon get the same treatment. I was even offered a position there, declined, then watched a judge in bankruptcy court finish off the plant citing an inability to maintain itself financially for the fifth time.

I know guys that are collecting their retirements in modesty after all this. The government now has control over the property and cannot find a buyer in a historical location with prime waterfront location.

It is quite sad, it is a loss to a way of life. If anyone has pics of the prosperity that existed their we would love to see them. That is how I would like to remember it.

[harpo231]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1518902382

[Keith Seymore]

I have worked new product launch in Janesville, in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

K

[ericfallon]

How does one find out what plant made/built there trucks?

[harpo231]

Letter in 6th spot in vin