THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 13, 1995 TAG: 9507120161
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER SUFFOLK
LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
ABOUT 2,800 truckloads of rubble will go to the Suffolk Regional Landfill on U.S. Route 58. Some metals and concrete will be recycled.
They are the remains of what was once was the Planters Peanuts factory.
Though the site should be cleared by September, longtime residents and Planters employees will never forget the factory that was a Suffolk landmark for 82 years.
Saturday's demolition of the old factory at Johnson Avenue and Culloden Street signaled the end of an era. Although it had been vacant for almost a year, the eight-story plant had been a fixture in the downtown skyline. Dapper, top-hatted Mr. Peanut standing atop fence posts and the trademark smokestack with the Planters emblem were familiar with folks here.
For Eula Williams, Suffolk Circuit Court deputy clerk, the demolition was an emotional event.
Williams had fond memories of growing up near the plant. Every Christmas, plant workers placed a Christmas tree on the factory's rooftop.
``It hurts,'' said Williams, wiping away tears as the building came down. ``It's just part of the community, and now it's gone.''
Longtime employees had similar sentiments.
Henry ``Biscuit'' Harris, 45, is the third generation of his family to work at Planters. His grandfather worked there 25 years, his mother 25 years, and now Harris has worked at Planters for 27 years.
At 18, Harris went to work at the plant for the summer, but it became a full-time career. He is now a mechanical coordinator who oversees how the nuts are packaged.
``This is a landmark. I wish there was some way we could keep it,'' Harris lamented.
Controlled Demolition Inc., the Baltimore-based company that leveled what was left of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, razed the old building after Planters officials decided to make way for a parking lot.
The company moved into its new, $35-million plant directly across the street last August.
More than 2,000 pounds of explosives were placed in columns and on the second, fourth and sixth floors of the old plant, said Controlled Demolition Inc. vice president Doug Loizeaux.
The only remnants of the old plant are bricks that were sold last year.
The United Way sold about 600 bricks from the old plant at $10 each last year and donated the money to charity. Officials at this point don't know if they'll get more bricks.
For those who didn't get bricks, just watching the implosion was the next best thing.
Hundreds of Suffolk residents - and people from as far away as Virginia Beach - came with cameras and lawn chairs, as early as 5 a.m., to see the 7 a.m. event.
What makes Planters so special to Suffolk folks? So special that they'd wake up so early to see a 7-second implosion?
Besides Christmas trees perched on the rooftop during the holiday, maybe the following sheds some light on the reverence residents held for it:
Mention Suffolk, and it conjures up peanuts. Planters, of course, has had a major role in touting Suffolk as the World's Largest Peanut Market.
Planters is the second largest employer here, with 450 people. Many residents proudly attest that two and three generations of their family have worked there.
A 13-year-old Suffolk resident designed the popular Mr. Peanut. Although changes have been made to the trademark over the years, it remains a familiar sight internationally.
Italian immigrants Amedeo Obici and Mario Peruzzi moved their peanut operation from Pennsylvania to Suffolk in 1913. Obici also founded Obici Hospital.
The Planters peanut factory is the largest peanut processing center in the world.
Yet at one point, in 1988, the relationship between Planters and Suffolk was strained when the company, now an operating unit of RJR Nabisco Inc., threatened to close the plant. A deal was struck - Planters donated 150 acres of suburban land to the city, and the city agreed to pay $3 million for demolition costs for the old plant. Suffolk also agreed to build a company parking lot on the site.
City Finance Director Lee Acors said the city will lease the lot to Planters over a 20-year period. Acors said the city plans to pay between $800,000 and $1.5 million to build the lot. City officials haven't planned when lot construction will begin.
And construction, some residents say, is the key to revitalization in Suffolk.
As for the old building, ``It's been a fixture in Suffolk for so many years, and you can't discount that. There's sentiment,'' says Mayor S. Chris Jones.
Yet he adds: ``It will be good to see it go in the name of progress.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color cover photo by John H. Sheally II
[Demolition of the Planters Peanuts factory.]
Staff photos by Michael Kestner
Spectators began lining the East Washington Street tracks before 6
a.m. Saturday to watch the demolition of the old Planters Peanuts
factory.
Security guard Erica Richards keeps an eye on things from across the
street.
The 2,000 pounds of explosives begin to do their job on the
82-year-old Suffolk landmark.
The 7-second implosion reduced the old factory to about 2,800
truckloads of rubble that will go to the Suffolk Regional Landfill
on U.S. Route 58.
The eight-story plant, which had been a fixture in the downtown
skyline, succumbs to the work of Controlled Demolition Inc.
Eula Williams, who grew up nearby, was overcome with emotion when
the plant came down.
KEYWORDS: PLANTERS PEANUTS DEMOLITION by CNB