Studebaker machine shop building demolition - South Bend L..

Another article from the 1/15/08 South Bend Tribune online edition.
This should be the building just east of SASCO's new place.

Copied and pasted:

South Bend awards contract to demolish former SB Lathe building
Tribune Staff Report

SOUTH BEND -- The city of South Bend has awarded a $3 million contract
to J&L Management Corp., of Mt. Clemens, Mich., to demolish the former
South Bend Lathe building, 400 W. Sample St.

The company agreed to complete the demolition in 12 months.

Work will begin on the site later this month, as the contractor begins
removal of asbestos, trash and other material from inside the 500,000-
square-foot building. Demolition will begin in the spring.


The vacant former industrial building is located just across Sample
Street from the South Bend Police Station. It is the largest and most
visible remnant of the former Studebaker Corp. complex. Most of the
other former Studebaker buildings have been demolished.

"This demolition will have a very visible impact on the entire area.
It will open up the land for new jobs, new investment and new pride,"
South Bend Mayor Stephen J. Luecke said. "These sites will be reused
as productive business parks where people once again can find
employment opportunities in the central city."

Following demolition and environmental remediation, the city plans
construction of a light industrial park.

The improvements in the Studebaker Corridor are funded by the city, as
well as federal and state grants and loans.

The former South Bend Lathe facility was built in 1917 as a machine
shop and engine plant for the Studebaker Corp., with additions in the
1930s and 1950s. South Bend Lathe moved to the site in 1965, after
Studebaker closed in South Bend. South Bend Lathe stopped production
on the site in 2002.

Update from 1/20/2008:

South Bend Lathe demolition later this year
-Building will open up 15 more acres to industrial park.

JAMIE LOO
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- The horizon on Sample Street near the South Bend Police
Department will change dramatically in the next year.

That's after the former South Bend Lathe facility, 400 W. Sample St.,
is demolished, revealing the massive footprint behind it that was once
Studebaker factories. The city plans to transform the roughly 82 acres
in the area into a light industrial park.

The city announced last week that J&L Management Corp. was awarded a
$2.9 million contract to demolish the building. The city bought South
Bend Lathe in 2006, and last summer the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency performed some environmental remediation, removing underground
storage tanks from the site.


Ann Kolata, city development specialist, said J&L Management will
remove asbestos, trash and other debris left in the 500,000-square-
foot building before demolition begins. The site is roughly 15 acres
and much of the material from the building will be recycled.
Structural demolition is scheduled to begin in the spring, starting
with the southwestern corner of the building and sweeping toward
Sample Street.

Kolata said the brick Studebaker guard tower and entrance gate on
Sample Street will be disassembled and rebuilt at the entry to a new
street being built for the industrial park.

The building, which has been vacant since 2003, had in the past
attracted scrappers and squatters, who had cut holes in the fence to
enter the building. In September 2006, a 20-year-old South Bend man
electrocuted himself in a manhole behind the building after sawing
into live electrical cables. He was allegedly trying to steal the
wires for scrap metal. About a year ago, the Redevelopment Commission
spent $4,875 on a new 7-foot fence that went around the perimeter of
South Bend Lathe and the adjacent Huckins Tool & Die.

Kolata said there haven't been any major problems at the site since
the new fence was put up and that anything of value was removed from
the building long ago.

Developing the park

Transpo is building its new headquarters on part of the former
Stamping Plant, which took up 38 acres and is behind South Bend Lathe.
Kolata said Transpo is using about 20 acres for its new facility.

After new roads are put into the area, this will leave roughly 50
acres open for development. Kolata said there has been some interest
from companies but that it's difficult to market the area because the
old buildings are still onsite. Once demolition is finished, Kolata
said she expects more interest because the land will be ready for use
right away.

Don Inks, director of economic development, said businesses that spin
off the future research and technology park that is planned near the
University of Notre Dame may also move to the site.

When the city started working on the project in 1999, Kolata said it
was projected to take 10 to 15 years to build up the park. Though
building acquisition and demolition plans in the area are moving
forward, Kolata said the sale of the land will ultimately depend on
the market.

The city has now acquired all of the buildings in the area that will
be part of the park, including the South Bend Foundry and former
Eckler-Lahey properties. The city bought both properties in December
for $290,000.

Staff writer Jamie Loo: