Re: Packard & Hudson proximity

Posted by Mr.Pushbutton  On 2013/2/20 9:17:16

The war changed the way plants were built and looked at--after WWII no one built another multi-story plant again.
Packard could have, and should have stayed at EGB for a while longer, but they had designs to get out of EGB and into a modern, single-story plant. One plan involved building an assembly plant in Utica, right next to the engine/trans plant (former defense) on Mound road. Packard veterans I talked to spoke of the condition of the EGB plant "going downhill" by 1953, as though Packard did not feel it was worth putting money into. Granted, money was tight in those years.
Plants like the EGB plant were yesterday's idea after the war. Connor Ave. was a bad choice for a modern plant. The idea was absolutely right, that building was not.