General Electric Specialty Control Plant

General Electric Specialty Control Plant
Location 1 Solutions Way, Waynesboro, Virginia
Coordinates 38°05′32″N 78°52′10″W / 38.09222°N 78.86944°W / 38.09222; -78.86944Coordinates: 38°05′32″N 78°52′10″W / 38.09222°N 78.86944°W / 38.09222; -78.86944
Area 25.5 acres (10.3 ha)
Built 1927 (1927), 1953, 1960, 1969
Built by J. A. Jones Construction Company
Architect Whitman, Requardt & Associates
NRHP Reference # 12000180[1]
VLR # 136-5055
Significant dates
Added to NRHP March 29, 2012
Designated VLR December 15, 2011[2]

General Electric Specialty Control Plant is a 115 acres (47 ha) historic factory complex located at Waynesboro, Virginia. The complex includes three contributing buildings, one contributing site (the original formal entry drive), and two contributing structures. The historic buildings and structures are a 340,000-square-foot main plant building (1953–1955, 1960), the original water tower, water tank, a group of evolved and interconnected construction sheds built from 1953 to the present, and an airplane hangar (c. 1927). The property, a former airport, was acquired by General Electric in 1953. The Waynesboro plant was one of some 120 individual operating departments created as part of a decentralization effort by the General Electric Corporation. The Specialty Control Plant was responsible for the development of breakthrough technologies in areas ranging from America’s military efforts to space travel to computer technology. The facility was sold to GENICOM on October 21, 1983.[3]

The property was originally on General Electric Drive. After the GENICOM sale, it was renamed GENICOM Drive. In 1994, GENICOM internally reorganized into two separate companies: Enterprising Solutions Services Company (ESSC) and Document Solutions Company (GENICOM). The road north of Hopeman Parkway was renamed Solutions Way while the southern part remained GENICOM Drive at the request of property owners in that area.

In 2000, GENICOM entered bankruptcy and the building was sold to the newly formed Solutions Way Management. The substantially downsized GENICOM operated as a tenant through its 2003 merger that formed TallyGenicom until a further bankruptcy and dissolution in 2009.

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.[1]

Solutions Way Management rents much of the facility to companies for light manufacturing, warehousing and distribution.

Pollution

General Electric and GENICOM manufactured circuit boards on site using a plating and etching processes that generated waste solvents. These solvents and other wastes contributed to groundwater contamination. General Electric assumed environmental responsibility for the contamination and operates a pump-and-treat system.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register of Historic Places Listings". Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 3/26/12 through 3/30/12. National Park Service. April 6, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
  3. ↑ Sadler, Mary Harding; Hensley, Llewellyn (September 2011). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: General Electric Specialty Control Plant" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying five photos


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.