Newark Assembly
Newark Assembly was a Chrysler (DaimlerChrysler from 1998-2007) automobile factory in Newark, Delaware.
The factory opened in 1951 as a tank plant and was converted for the production of Plymouth and Dodge automobiles in 1957.
A variety of Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth models were produced at this facility over the years, totaling nearly 7 million cars.
To prepare the Newark plant for production of the 1997 Dodge Durango, a sport utility vehicle (SUV) the company invested US$623 million that included a new training facility, production simulation building, a paint shop, as well as upgrades to the 1.2-mile (2 km) test track, a new material handling fleet, and new controls on the assembly line.
On February 14, 2007, DaimlerChrysler announced that the plant would lose one working shift in 2007, and that it would be scheduled to be shut down completely in 2009.
In October 2008, the company announced that the closure would be moved up to the end of 2008 citing a slowdown in both the economy and demand for large vehicles. The neighboring Mopar parts distribution center also closed in 2008.
On October 24, 2009, The University of Delaware announced it had signed a deal to buy the 272-acre (1.10 km2; 0.425 sq mi) Chrysler facility for US$24.25 million. The property is next to the university's south campus (the main campus is a 1/4 mile north and usually accessible by bus by students). Plans are to use it as a research and development site and for the future expansion of the university.
The history department at the University of Delaware and the Hugh M. Morris Library used a class of graduate and undergraduate students to conduct interviews of eleven former autoworkers employed at the Newark Assembly plant.
The University has decommissioned and developed the site as its Science, Technology, and Advanced Research (STAR) campus. In 2012, Bloom Energy, makers of the Bloom Energy Server held groundbreaking for a new manufacturing plant at the former auto assembly site. In 2014, the first tenant of a revitalized Chrysler building will be the College of Health Sciences and a health-related complex.
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