I finally had the opportunity over the holidays to get by and check out the demolition occurring at the old GM Transmission Plant on Kildare Rd. Looks like the demolition started on the south side, on the WWII era Border Cities Industries section, which is now, nothing more than a memory.
Just a pile of twisted metal and bricks remain where we made machine guns during WWII, and which later served as the maintenance garage for the S.W.& A railway buses, and finally as part of the GM transmission plant.
The office building part remains standing, and the future of the site remains unknown, despite rumors that it’s being considered as a site for the future new hospital. Personally I’m a fan of that plan.
Hope everyone had a great holiday. See you back here Monday!
I didn’t realize how huge and wide-spread this plant was! Too much of Windsor is going down into the ground!
I worked as a summer intern at this plant in 1986. I had the run of the plant, maintaining personal computers and software in both the office and manufacturing areas (this was in the era before local area networks). If you started at the front office facing Kildare and walked through the main plant, took the escalators up to the bridge over Walker and then to the far corner of the building on the east side of Walker (‘H’ Building) it would take close to 30 minutes. If you faced the front offices, the lower right level was actually and executive parking garage for the plant manager and his direct reports. The finance offices were on the upper right level, HR and medical were on the lower left level and the engineering offices started on the upper left level and stretched back into the plant. Back in the day, the plant machined almost every single part that went into a transmission, with all the gears and case covers coming together in a central area using a Jervis Webb automated system. The plant had excess stamping capacity and they actually stamped out clutch plates for Chrysler. A little known fact. There were multiple sets of escalators within the plant, an AV department, multiple mainframe computers, cafeteria, an executive dining room and even a carpentry shop. The old office building that once faced Walker Road near Seminole was incorporated into the new plant when it was rebuilt in the late 1970s. It wasn’t evident from the outside, but you could see it from the inside. It was bunker like and used to house the computers that managed machine monitoring and maintenance dispatch, their IT support and the maintenance dispatch centre. An absolutely fascinating place and a thrill to have been able to work there in a position that allowed me to explore the entire plant.
PS: The SW&A bus garage was completely demolished when the transmission plant was expanded in the late 1970s. It was never incorporated into the actual plant.
They don’t seem to be in any hurry leveling this place. I’ve gone by a few times in the last couple of months, and it seemed to be the same, each time I went by. Like they started, and stopped. I think it would be a great site for the new Mega Hospital (even if Met is just down the street).
Met being down the road could be an asset to a megahospital at this location – possibly to serve as a convenient satellite campus for certain services. Or a parking garage with a shuttle to/from the main building, relieving on-site vehicle congestion.
Every time I drive down Kildare, I think about building the megahospital on this site and for selfish reasons I would love that. Also nice redesign of the website Andrew.
This would be an excellent location for the mega hospital. Centrally located and a good use of ubran infill (pretty much). Its a much better option than building it out past Silver City or something.
I cannot drive past this building without thinking it would be a great place for the new hospital.
When you vote this October 19, keep these photos of the naked vastness of the former factory lands of Windsor in mind. Thousands upon thousands of hard working employees ground out their livings and their futures in these empty spaces. Feel the history. The city has been stripped of its former industrial might and its famed skilled workforce. We weren’t a capital city nor were we a regional hub. But we had a huge reputation as a city where great folks made great things. Remember that this was the city that put the British Commonwealth on wheels in two world wars. We made trucks, we made paint, we made cereals and pharmaceuticals. How about Milk of Magnesia – yep, that too! We built ocean-going ships for service in WWII. We built transmission towers and tanks and bridges to carry the trains of the nation across numerous rivers and canyons. And we made the liquid refreshments that soothed these workers in their off-times. Drive down Walker Road, Kildare Ave., Wellington , Drouillard, Crawford, and a host of others. Then, my friends, please go and vote.