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.
This story could be repeated the downtowns of most other cities. Downtown rail freight spurs were abandoned, then over the years obliterated. Remember when newspapers were printed in the same center-city buildings as where the reporters and editors wrote them? Now some metro newspapers are printed literally hundreds of miles away.
I seem to remember reading in TRAINS MAGAZINE that the entire City and County of San Franscisco has one rail shipper.
In the 1970’s, Detroit was planning a new rail spur off GTW at Eastern Farmers Market, which is near downtown. The spur was never built, and the GTW is a bike path.
NS still uses their Pennsy acquired rights, they just turn left instead of right now when they get to the California Ave. Yard to reach Proviso. But yes, in my many years of commuting on Metra, I used to double take when I saw NS power backing a set of hoppers into the flour mill on Morgan. I always thought it was funny to see grain elevators so close to the downtown.
Many a happy time over the past half-century “foaming” at the Blommer plant, esp. when good weather allowed the aromas inhalable. FWIW, in Oshkosh 3 hours North, Hughes’ Ho-Maid chocolate has always used Blommer’s milk and dark…hope that quality does not decline.
When the wind was blowing right you could smell it the coaches, always put a smile on my face.
Fascinating background from all of these comments. Thanks.
Blommer had 2 rail spurs serving the Kinzie plant. The “top dock” for sugar and cocoa came off the Metra elevated tracks, the “street dock” ran down Jefferson Street brought the peanut and veggie oils.
As late as 1946, this was a massive rail yard from Western Ave. between Kinzie and Carroll all the way to the river. It was lined with factories, warehouses, elevators. Every so often, yet another business fades out. The aforementioned flour mill on Morgan Street included. Tons of meat packing plants, reefer services, all used to serve the Fulton Street Market. There used to be a huge Jewel Tea Company building here (forerunner of Jewel Foods).
The Pennsy had a freight operation underneath the CNW tracks at Clinton Street. The old C&GU had a roundhouse and machine shops at Union & Kinzie, where the “original” mainline ran for years. That track was torn up in the 1990’s. Not even sure why they keep the Kinzie Street Bridge. Its been deactivated and out of service for years.
The closure of the flour mill along the Hiawatha approach to CUS took away my favorite trivia question: — Along what Amtrak line would you be most surprised to see a Norfolk Southern freight.
This was a remnant of when, decades ago, PRR came into CUS from BOTH ends, the south end, and the MILW end on the north.
Ironic that the original article came from the Chicago Sun-Times. The Navy Pier branch used to serve the Sun-Times printing plant located along the north side of the main branch of the Chicago River.
During off peak hours CNW switchers would bring commuter coaches and carloads of sugar downtown in the same moves. Made for an unusual combination.
The costs can’t be that much higher than Pennsylvania or California. I wonder if it’s more the opportunity cost of not selling the land to a developer is too high.
You have a point Joyce. There comes a time where the price of the land becomes more valuable than the asset sitting on it. Would not surprise me if in the near future we get news on the place being sold. But I suspect the cost of operating in California is getting higher by the day. Look for that plant being shuttered in the near future.