Re: Merlin inspection building question
Posted by Steve203 On 2014/5/24 0:44:14
I don't know what happened to the foundry buildings.
The foundry and forge were in the area marked with a question mark on this 1961 photo.
iirc, the 55 annual report said the foundry was "surplus" when sold. It does not appear that the foundry would have been disrupted significantly by the freeway. Earlier photos show one long narrow building extending from the main foundry to Harper and another shed on Harper, but the main buildings were well back from the freeway right of way.
Reasons why the foundry was "surplus" could include:
-so ancient and decrepit that a major investment would have been required to keep it running.
-oversized, underutilized and inefficent as Packard production levels had fallen well below 6 figures.
-with engine, transmission and axle production moved to Utica, it may not have cost any more to ship the castings from Muskegon than from the old foundry on Harper.
The building marked "G" on the photo is Gemmer Steering Gear, which still stands. iirc "H" is the Hupmobile plant, now replaced by GM Poletown.
Elsewhere, I saw a newspaper clipping that Lakey picked up Packard and Kaiser as customers in the same week in 54, as the Chevy/Ford price war was raging and everyone else's volume fell. Lakey went bankrupt in 72.
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The foundry and forge were in the area marked with a question mark on this 1961 photo.
iirc, the 55 annual report said the foundry was "surplus" when sold. It does not appear that the foundry would have been disrupted significantly by the freeway. Earlier photos show one long narrow building extending from the main foundry to Harper and another shed on Harper, but the main buildings were well back from the freeway right of way.
Reasons why the foundry was "surplus" could include:
-so ancient and decrepit that a major investment would have been required to keep it running.
-oversized, underutilized and inefficent as Packard production levels had fallen well below 6 figures.
-with engine, transmission and axle production moved to Utica, it may not have cost any more to ship the castings from Muskegon than from the old foundry on Harper.
The building marked "G" on the photo is Gemmer Steering Gear, which still stands. iirc "H" is the Hupmobile plant, now replaced by GM Poletown.
Elsewhere, I saw a newspaper clipping that Lakey picked up Packard and Kaiser as customers in the same week in 54, as the Chevy/Ford price war was raging and everyone else's volume fell. Lakey went bankrupt in 72.
Attach file:
(46.46 KB)
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