Fun with your mouse, the old Packard plant

[Tom Geiger]

There is a historic building site local to my NJ home in Holmdel, NJ. AT&T built and opened this facility in 1962 and suburbs sprang up around it. Eventually it became 2 million square feet of office and research space. My wife worked there for 14 years, I was a consultant there for a year. It's a truly magnificent building with four buildings set with a six story atrium between all of them, with roof sky lights. It was the last building designed by famous architect Eero Saarinen.

Karl Guthe Jansky invented radio astronomy on this site prior to the construction. The transistor was invented here. Advances in radar and sonar were made here, as well as one Nobel Prize discovery, the laser cooling work of Steven Chu. The first US space shots and satellites were tracked from this site. In it's heyday it was home to over 6,000 employees and was the major employer in the area. Once Lucent was sold to French firm Alcatel, they dismantled the remainder of the AT&T / Lucent research organization and the site was abandoned in the late 1990s. It's just sat vacant ever since.

It's fortunate that it's being somewhat maintained and has been the center of development bids since it's closure. Some of the bids wanted to knock it down and build high end houses (Holmdel housing is median $1 millon plus), while groups petition to maintain it as a historic structure. It's been proposed to be a medical center, a mixed use community of business and residential units and a mall. Time will tell. It's fortunate that it's in a desirable area and the property is worth money. It would be a loss to see it demolished.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Tom Geiger

[crazyjim]

Sounds about the same as the Lucent facilities out in Lisle/Naperville, IL. At one time there were 6 buildings the company occupied along I88. They spent some major dollars in a massive remodel and then started "downsizing". I had over 30 years in and was 50 years old so I took the package and got out.

[charlie8575]

In transitioning from a production economy to a service economy, We gave away something we didn't understand the importance of.

It's so good to see someone else who gets that.

In my entrepreneurial pursuits, here in Massachusetts, there are two very distinct trains of thought.

The Boston crowd is a bunch of zit-faced hipsters (or people my age or older who act the part) and think "ewww...dirty, yucky making stuff...give us our little virtual world and trashy little trinkets."

Then there's my group- the Worcester crowd. While I've gone to Boston for some presentations and programs and people simply poo-poo me and those of us outside of Rt. 128 (the major outer beltway that essentially demarcates where Greater Boston starts or ends, depending on the direction you're traveling).

As I've started my group and a lot of the Boston people saying..."this is Worcester, we make stuff!" (Usually bit stronger than "stuff", but you get the idea).

Those of us in Central/Western Massachusetts are proud to carry on a part of our production heritage, and plan to do so for a long time to come.

Charlie Larkin

[george 53]

THAT-Is one of the coolest things I've seen in awhile !

I like the way the pictures change from before/after-neat effect. I grew up not far from the Packard plant .

The Fall of Detroit=Coleman A. Young

I read this some where, being born and raised in Detroit in makes a lot of sense to me.

In transitioning from a production economy to a service economy, We gave away something we didn't understand the importance of.

When coalman yung told the people of Deeeetroy "if you DON'T like how I RUN MY TOWN, Hit the OTHER side of 8 mile" 8 mile road is the Deeeetroy city limits. The DECENT and GOOD folks left. You see the results, they even rob ACCIDENT victims BEFORE the near non existant EMS gets to them. It IS the dregs!!!!!!!