From the December 31, 1965 issue of the Windsor Star
An aerial photograph of the brand spanking new GM Trim Plant on Lauzon Road. Now as our manufacturing might decreases, a new arena is set to open in the field behind the plant, and this plant, with its great modern office building is threatened with demolition.
The Lear sign, still sits out on the road advertising what was.
A view of the front entrance, with the massive 1960’s era canopy over the front door.
A couple of storage tanks on the site, complete with the Lear Canada Logo.
When I took these photos a few months ago, the plant had only been closed since the summer, but nature was already starting to reclaim the land through the cracks in the roadway.
A view back looking north from the parking area towards the offices.
This building is a great example of the architecture of the era, and when it comes to the most under appreciated buildings, in my opinion it’s usually the industrial ones that get no love.
When this plant is wiped off the face off the earth, this office will be looked back upon as a great loss. It might not happen next year or the year after that, but 20 or 30 years from now there will be some regret.
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I worked for lear during 2007. towards the end, the entire second floor was empty except for the it department. the sign out front has recently disappeared. if you notice, the picture with the canopy, the granite floor slabs are all gone. they disappeared one weekend right near the end. the front office, it has some really nasty aluminum walls and most of the lights didnt work. oh well. was fun working there and the people were pretty good
How incredibly sad...
"Now main streets whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there aint nobody wants to come down here no more
Theyre closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they aint coming back to
Your hometown, your hometown, your hometown, your hometown"
-- Springsteen, My Hometown"
Sometimes songs just really nail it.
People used to say that when General Motors catches a cold Canada will get pneumonia, or something like that. Can't believe a company that was such a big part of our national identity is now on the brink of collapse. I wonder how many Canadians learned to drive behind the wheel of their parents' Chevy, Pontiac, Oldsmobile or Buick.
Notice that a manufacturing plant built as late as the 1960's was built adjacent to a major railway and had its own spurs going right into the plant.
Lately, Billy Joel's Allentown has been going through my head.
Is the 1965 version the same layout as today? It looks bigger from the 1965 aerial for some reason. What made it the most modern of its type in the world in 1965?
It's too bad they couldn't turn it into a St. Clair satellite campus or some other community college. The building looks like it has a lot of potential still for re-use. Did the city get it for back taxes or who now owns it?
"east side location with much promise for more new industrial development" Yeah, right. GM wanted out of the parts business in a big way, Lear was only temporary until the work moved to Mexico or China or wherever. The sooner Windsor transitions from industrial to service and tourism, along with a retirement enclave, the better. There's no future for manufacturing in these parts - see Britain (once a major industrial nation). I hope it isn't converted into a satellite campus, we don't need a college on every corner. It could be a good location for mixed office and townhomes. I would suggest a train station, but with passenger traffic going to the southern line, not much future there.
I agree with JB. Windsor needs to transition away from manufacturing now. While an interesting building, there is virtually no potential that this could be used for anything other than industrial. It makes a good mixed use site for residential / commercial. I believe that the owners were going to start demolition this fall?
jb and edward
Why would you rather have low wage service and tourism jobs then manufacturing?. This building could of been used for a warehouse even
Lear could be a building to house emerging industry. We have skilled work teams such as GM transmission
that will be dismantled and dispersed if we don't have something for them. A documentary on the cbc this week talked about the success of wind turbine production and use in Germany. it is possible to produce these products in Canada. We need government to invest in the retraining and construction necessary to put these people to work in Windsor.There is the possibility that government will be throwing a lot of money around to prevent a deflationary collapse. I think the people of windsor have the history that tells us that we have the ways and means to demand action from government.
I'm surprised the province didn't sneak attack the city, buy up this Lear plant and announce they're going to build the jail there.
The caption from the first picture is quite sad "holds promise of new industrial development", in the 43 years since the plant was opened what other "industrial" use is there around that location? We do need the manufacturing jobs in this city that pay well, but the quicker we realize (as everybody is starting to say) that we need to go after high-tech companies, even tourism or a retirement city for people in Canada than the better this economy would be. The proof is in that newspaper photo, in 43 years no other industrial development took place in that area, let alone in the rest of Windsor, we had areas of the city zoned for industrial use that have no been sold and become commercial or future residential neighborhoods. We've been living in the past way too long, don't look back because we have to move forward.