© 2024 WGLT
A public service of Illinois State University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Kankakee Appliance Plant To Be Demolished

Patsy Lynch
/
FEMA

The Kankakee plant that once bustled with 3,000 workers building gas and electric stoves is coming down. A Chicago company has obtained a demolition permit to raze the 810,000-square-foot Kankakee Roper building on 35 acres on the city's west side. Roper moved its manufacturing plant to Georgia in 1982. General Electric Co. bought the company, and the Kankakee property, in 1987. A GE spokesman said the company has no plans yet for the property. The $1.38 million demolition should be complete by August. Buildings on the campus will be leveled to slabs and basements backfilled. The location is considered a ``brownfield,'' meaning environmental contamination must be cleaned up before it's redeveloped.

Related Content