John Johnston

Photojouralism & Event

MORAINE — Workers rolled into the General Motors Corp.’s Moraine Assembly plant Tuesday, Dec. 23, to begin their final shift before the factory closes for good.Closure of the plant, which makes mid-sized sport utility vehicles such as the Chevrolet TrailBlazer and GMC Envoy, will eliminate nearly 1,100 jobs.Only about 500 people were working at the cavernous plant Tuesday, approximately half of what would be the customary staffing, company spokeswoman Sherrie Childers Arb said.Workers arrived before dawn, occasionally honking their horns at one another or at a cluster of local and international media gathered next to the Kettering-Moraine Museum, which overlooks the plant.The GM plant’s body shop and paint shop operations, which occur earlier in the production process at Moraine, were wrapped up prior to Tuesday’s shutdown of assembly work there, Arb said.She estimated that the remaining assembly work would likely be completed prior to the normal mid-afternoon end of the production shift.Initially, GM announced in June that it would close the Moraine plant by 2010 as part of a larger restructuring. The following month, the company said it would eliminate its second shift.In October, the automaker accelerated the closure, announcing it would shutter the factory at Stroop Road and Kettering Boulevard this year. The company also was shuttering an SUV assembly plant Tuesday in Janesville, Wis.GM will continue to have a small manufacturing presence in the Dayton area through the DMAX engine plant it operates as a joint venture with Isuzu.Source- Dayton Daily NewsPhoto by John Johnston Dayton, Ohiowww.johnstonphotos.org
   
Photo by John Johnston Dayton, Ohio Freelance Photographer
   
Photo by John Johnston Dayton, Ohio Freelance Photographer
     
  
Photo by John Johnston Dayton, Ohio Freelance Photographer
   
Photo by John Johnston Dayton, Ohio Freelance Photographer
   
     
  
Photo by John Johnston
   
Photo by John Johnston
   
Photo by John Johnston
     
  
Photo by John Johnston
   
Photo by John Johnston
   
     
  
Photo by John Johnston
   
Photo by John Johnston
   
Roscoe Village ReenactmentPhoto by John Johnston
     
  
Roscoe Village ReenactmentPhoto by John Johnston