The closing of a car manufacturing plant can be devastating for a community. It means jobs will be lost, along with the host town's sense of identity.
But at many abandoned sites around the county, things are turning around.
A new report from the Center for Automotive Research found that hundreds of closed auto factories have been repurposed for a variety of causes, from new industries to public spaces and even for new types of automotive manufacturing.
Forty nine percent of the 263 automotive plants that have closed across the country over the past three decades have been given new life.
BALTIMORE, MD, FORMER GM ASSEMBLY PLANT: After the plant closed in 2005, Duke Realty decided to turn this 185-acre plot into the Chesapeake Commerce Center. The new businesses on site include MTC Logistics, a refrigerated and frozen food warehousing and distribution company, and the Port of Baltimore.
BATAVIA, OH, FORMER FORD TRANSMISSION PLANT: The University of Cincinnati Clermont capitalized on the closed Ford plant, using the space to expand its Allied Health program and provide higher learning opportunities for the community. Alongside UC Clermont East, there is also a mobile facilities producer and an aluminum scrap company.
COOPERSVILLE, MI, FORMER DELPHI FUEL INJECTOR PLANT: After closing in 2006, the site was bought by Continental Dairy. Conveniently located near CD's raw milk supply, the plant now makes powdered milk and by 2012 will be at full capacity for milk production.
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