Former GM site takes shape as a restored wetland habitat
By Darwin Baranski and Brian Keenan-Lechel
Saginaw River Headwaters Rec Area is giving a long-abandoned piece of property a new lease on life.
Located in the city of Saginaw, Mich., the project site is a 334-acre, one-million-square-foot, automobile-manufacturing complex, known as Saginaw Malleable Iron (SMI). The foundry was established in 1917 and sold to General Motors in 1919 before closing in 2007. During its 90-year lifespan, SMI was at the forefront of technological innovation for manufacturing malleable-iron automotive components from sand-mold castings. In addition, SMI was contracted by the United States to supply munitions to the military during WWII and the Korean War. Employing 3,500 workers during its heyday, SMI was considered a premier foundry operation and a significant part of Michigan’s industrial history and an anchor industry in Saginaw’s Southwest Neighborhood. Competition from new and emerging metal technologies that could be produced at a lower cost eventually led to SMI’s closure. Demolition of the manufacturing facilities began in 2009 and was completed at the end of 2010. This $15-million-dollar project, which was funded by General Motors, also included an initial environmental cleanup and the remediation of industrial PCBs, lead, asbestos, and heavy-metals contamination.