Page 11 - HIWT Winter 2014 World of Welding

hiwt@welding.org HOBART INSTITUTE OF WELDING TECHNOLOGY

MAIN STREET PLANT

(Continued from page 10)

View of demolition from Water Street. (Color photos by Larry Salyer)

1925 also marked the year of the construction of
the first Hobart arc welder. As years passed, the
product lines grew, the factory was expanded and
the building continued to serve the company well.
Welding equipment was the mainstay product
until later years when solid wire manufacturing
occupied some of the space. Hobart Brothers
Company employed a significant number of
people in Troy and the surrounding areas. Many
of the old-timers are reliving that life and sharing
stories of their time as the building is dismantled,
section by section.

ITW purchased Hobart Brothers Company from
the Hobart family in 1996 and began moving
operations from the building. The final production
took place at that Main Street plant in 2013.

Josh Stiever, a business unit manager for Hobart- Sections of the building’s interior could be seen
ITW says, “The building was no longer structurally as the dismantling continued throughout the summer.
sound and there was no good way you could have
re-used the building. We decided to take it down and let the The Troy Development Council intends to ensure the
city and Troy Development Council (TDC) decide what goes community has some control over how the site is redeveloped,”
in its place.” stated J.C. Wallace, President of the TDC. “We want to
see the site developed so it supports the downtown and the
Demolition took nine months and ITW will leave the property surrounding uses.”
as a green space.
(Continued on page 17)

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