A longtime Marion factory is undergoing demolition in hopes the property can be converted into a green energy facility.
Dana Holding Corporation’s Marion plant was sold to a Michigan-based company called AP Marion IN LLC in the fall for $1 million, according to county property records.
Michael A. Cenit, an AP Marion IN managing member, said most of the structure of more than 600,000 square feet will be torn down with the exception of the office area. He estimated late Monday that about 90 percent of the demolition had been completed.
“That factory was only good to make axles,” he said.
Cenit said he is also a principal in an investment company called Applied Partners, which rehabilitates decommissioned factories. The company is working to rehab the former Dana factory at 400 S. Miller Ave. for a green energy company to take it over, Cenit said.
“We bought the property with that in mind,” he said. “Hopefully we’re offering it to them to be a regional headquarters.”
Cenit said that while he has not yet signed a contract with the company, he has seen “extreme interest” from a green energy company that has visited the Marion site twice. He declined to name the company or the specifics of what the facility would be used for at this phase.
The Marion Dana plant, built in the early 1950s, had ceased production of driveshaft components by summer 2013.
At its peak production in the late 1970s, Dana employed 1,200 to 1,400 people. By 2007, that total had fallen to 330 and was at about 165 when the pending closure was announced in March 2011.
By March 2013, 46 people were employed in the plant, William Honeycutt, bargaining chairman for the Local 7113 of the United Steelworkers said at the time.
“Dana just had too many facilities globally, so (closing the Marion plant) was part of a footprint optimization program,” said Jeff Cole, Dana’s director of corporate communications, in March.
At that time, Cole indicated that operating the Marion plant did not make economic sense with another plant nearby in Fort Wayne. When reached Monday, Cole said the company had no comment.
Tim Eckerle, executive director of the nonprofit Grant County Economic Growth Council, said the Growth Council has been in touch with the new ownership but he could not comment on specifics.
“We’ve offered to help and work with (the new owner) as they develop their plan for reuse,” Eckerle said.