CHICAGO — One of the last industries still receiving freight rail service in downtown Chicago — and one that gave its neighborhood a distinct aroma — is calling it quits.
Blommer Chocolate will close its factory at 600 W. Kinzie Street at the end of May because of the increasing costs of running a facility that dates to 1939, the Chicago Sun-Times reports, eliminating 250 jobs.
“The location and age of the Chicago facility coupled with increasing repair and maintenance of the building and equipment has elevated operating costs and created production reliability issues,” the company said in a statement quoted by the Sun-Times.
Photographer Mark Llanuza, who recently recorded images of the plant being switched, reports the last tank car is slated to be removed from the plant this Tuesday, making for the last rail move across Grand Avenue.
The factory, served by Chicago & North Western and later Union Pacific, is just over two blocks from another remaining rail-served business, the Chicago Tribune’s Freedom Center printing plant at 560 W. Grand Avenue; that facility is about to close to make way for a Bally’s casino. Llanuza reports final service on the former Navy Pier line, on which both plants are located, is slated for June 1. Trains currently operate middays on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Employees were informed of the Blommer closure on Friday. The company’s headquarters and lab will remain in Chicago, at the Merchandise Mart, while it will invest $100 million on its remaining factories in East Greenville, Pa.; Union City, Calif.; and Campbellford, Ontario.
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