Oakley Mill Closing

But the restlessness was handed down
And it's getting very hard to stay
--Billy Joel

My first 'real' job was working at a Mead paperboard mill in Oakley during the summer between my junior and senior years of college. I worked various jobs around the facility--primarily filling in for vacationing union workers. Although I was not required to join the union, I learned a lot that summer about the management-labor perspective. It was a great experience that helped shape my career.

The facility itself was a classic small urban mill in what was at one time a significant production district. Across the street was the campus of machining giant Cincinnati Milacron--since shut, demoed, and converted into condos and mixed retail (part of the Milacron campus is visible in the upper half of the image below). Up the street was ILSCO (originally Incandescent Light & Stove Company) and other smaller manufacturers. Like many urban production settings that sprouted spontaneously many years ago, manufacturers were woven into the fabric of the community and integrated with residential neighborhoods.

The mill itself made paperboard products from all recycled paper. Spread across nearly five acres, the site sported two paper machines--already very 'vintage' by the time I arrived in the early 1980s, a converting plant, a warehouse, a recycled bale storage yard, and a coal-fired power plant (which I had the 'privilege' of cleaning during my tenure).

Viewed from the outside thirty plus years later, the facility does not appear to have received any major upgrades since my time there. Same faint but noticeable familiar odor of repulped board. The smell of production.

As has been common in the paper industry, the mill has since changed hands a few times--most recently winding up with a firm called RockTenn. After closing the plant in late November, RockTenn has posted it for sale.

Rather than once again trading into the hands of another operating manager, the site is being marketed for demolition and 'redevelopment.'

The tone is upbeat about the prospects of more offices, retail, and condos. The vision seems to seems one of throwing an old rusty boat anchor off the ship of prosperity.

It is hard not to wonder whether this enthusiasm is misplaced to some degree. At the very least, more production capacity is leaving the local area.

Is it wise to view urban production facilities as foregone liabilities? Or as undervalued assets?