A commemorative plate which was given to employees of the Norwood GM plant.

The GM Norwood Assembly Plant was in continuous operation from 1923 until 1987, when, due to labor costs and alleged high absenteeism rates, General Motors decided to close the plant rather than update the facilities.
The closing of the plant, which Norwood had relied on for 64 years, was a devastating blow. It left 4,300 people - roughly 35 percent of the city's earnings tax base - without jobs. The 3 million-square-foot plant stood silent, never to reopen.

Cleon Montgomery remembers Aug. 28, 1987 when the last shift ended at the GM plant in Norwood.
It was the day after the plant closed. He went back into the factory where he worked as a United Auto Workers (UAW) union committeeman for 22 years. There was no sound, no din of assembly line machinery, no bright, white arcs from the welding shop. "It was gigantic - and it was so quiet. It was gloomy without the lights; a graveyard feeling. You walked and your footsteps echoed,'' said Mr. Montgomery, 51, who still lives here and works for GM at a parts facility in Sharonville. "It was one of the hardest days of my life. It's not quite like losing a family member, but it's close.''

The day before, the plant had been filled with emotion. "Some men were crying. Some were furious, full of anger that GM had betrayed them. They didn't tear anything up. They were good, hard workers frustrated and lost,'' Mr. Montgomery said.

Ron Rankin, UAW 674 president then, remembers the last day, too. "I shook hands with guys, a lot of friends, whom I have not seen since,'' said Mr. Rankin, 58, who turned down a transfer to Dayton and retired here after 31 years at the plant. About 70 percent eventually took reassignments, scattering to some 30 different plants as far as Louisiana, Texas and California.

The closing and the transfers caused hardships for some. There were financial problems and bankruptcies, because idle workers did not draw the same money in union support they did on the job. "The saddest problems were the separations and divorces and families torn apart. There were relocations, and wives did not want to go,'' Mr. Montgomery said. "Understand, that plant was a family that looked out for each other. This is a prideful town that stuck together at the toughest of times. That plant may not be here any more, but the town is - and they love Norwood.''

This is an excerpt from an article on the recovery of Norwood, Ohio written by WALT SCHAEFER for the August 24, 1997 edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer. For the full story, go here: http://enquirer.com/editions/1997/08/24/loc_norwood.html

The site of the Norwood Assembly Plant is now transformed into a commercial and retail center.

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