Quad/Graphics and Mt. Morris officials mull what to do with plant
Mt. Morris Village President Greg Unger confirmed Tuesday that Quad/Graphics officials have considered giving the shuttered printing plant to the village.
"They would like to get rid of the entire property," Unger said. "There's been discussion of giving the property to the village as a tax write-off."
However, Unger said the village simply cannot afford such a gift.
"The village can't assume ownership. We don't have the money, no matter how neat that would be," he said.
Instead, he said, village officials, along with members of the Mt. Morris Economic Development Corporation, are meeting with Quad-Graphics officials to determine potential users of the sprawling printing plant, some parts of which are almost a century old.
"There are some possibilities," Unger said. "It would be ideal for warehousing or a distribution center. If anything would happen, it's months away."
A rail spur runs into the facility.
Right now, he said plant officials are conducting environmental studies to determine if there is any onsite contamination or areas of concern.
Eventually, some portions of the plant may be demolished to make it more useable or marketable.
Quad/Graphics spokesman Claire Ho said Tuesday afternoon that the plant is for sale and has been listed with Jones Lang LaSalle, Chicago, a company with expertise in the sale and lease of large industrial properties.
She said discussion have been held with Mt. Morris village officials about the disposition of the facility.
"We are in preliminary discussions with the village," she said. "We're open to all options."
Unger said he approached Quad/Graphics officials in 2010 after the company bought the Mt. Morris plant and asked them to give the village the 25 acres currently used by Sunset Golf Course.
"That was to solidify the golf course, which is a very important recreational facility in the village," he said.
Quad/Graphics officially ceased operations at the Mt. Morris facility last year on May 13, when the last magazines rolled off the presses.
Ho said the firm is now in the process of disposing of the presses and other equipment at the plant.
"Where possible we are repurposing equipment; otherwise it's being scrapped," she said.
Facility manager Jeff Warren, who has been employed there for more than 20 years, is one of only nine people left working at the plant.
The small crew is required, he said, to ensure adequate maintenance of the facility.
Warren said a recycling company from Tennessee began the recycling operation in mid-December, and the process is expected to take about six months.
"Some equipment was identified to be repurposed within the corporation and will be utilized at other Quad/Graphics locations," he said.
The plant also is being used as a warehouse.
"We are still getting equipment from other idled Quad Graphics plants," he said.
The plant started out as Kable Brothers Printing in 1898 and employed more than 2,000 people in its heydey.
