Breaking ground at historic site

PERKINS TWP. — They celebrated the past while looking forward to the future. On Wednesday, Perkins Township officials hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for Aligned Data Centers at its site — the former home to Delphi, New Departure, New Departure-Hyatt and KBI — on Hayes (Ohio 4) and West Perkins avenues near Sandusky High School. The ceremony occurred nearly three months after Aligned demolished the property's water tower — an iconic image once representing a decades-old manufacturing staple in Sandusky. "Demolishing this water tower is just symbolically closing the chapter on its industrial path, turning the page to a new digital age," said David Robinson, the general counsel and executive vice president of Aligned Data Centers. The former bearings plant, which underwent those aforementioned name/company changes, is rooted at the very start of the U.S. automotive industry. Tim Coleman, a Perkins Township trustee, described the bittersweet moment. "This historic site started manufacturing in 1947. Many of us had family and friends that worked at this location," he said. While empty for a few years now, Coleman sees Aligned's involvement as a positive. The company intends to redevelop this 129-acre site, activate it with an actual business and rid any toxins there with environmentally friendly practices. "When construction begins, Aligned will employ many people from our trades unions," Coleman added. "That's going to be a big benefit to our local community and our region. We are excited for the repurposing and redevelopment of this location. We look forward to the future, working together." Robinson thanked the many partners for this project: Perkins Township, Perkins Schools, EHOVE Career Center and Erie County's government. An all-important tax financing deal took place between these entities to ensure work could proceed. "This has been a team effort," Robinson said. Robinson then described how he views the water tower's demise. It "not only recognizes Aligned's technologically advanced and environmentally friendly data centers coming into the region, but it's also an exciting new path toward commercial and economic development," Robinson said. The proposal Back in 2023, Aligned secured the land with intentions of investing about $202 million there to build four data centers. The first data center should debut by mid-2025. Between now and then, Aligned-hired crews should continue on-site demolition and clearance activities. Aligned, regarded as a leading technology infrastructure company, offers innovative, sustainable and adaptive solutions for various projects. Data centers are typically used to house computer systems and associated components. Aligned specifically specializes in energy consumption, water usage and brownfield remediation. "We will be creating new jobs, bringing new investment here and (providing) investment for innovative businesses that are looking to relocate here," Robinson said. "We will be returning these abandoned brownfield sites back to productive use, transforming the property into a valuable and enduring asset for the local community." Dismantling history Demolition, which started in earnest in 2023, ends a huge chapter in Sandusky's history books, which dates back to the 1940s. This 129-acre property, at 2509 Hayes Ave. employed thousands of local manufacturing workers. The former bearings plant is rooted in the very start of the U.S. automotive industry. KBI opened as New Departure Bearings, a name getting its origins in 1888. New Departure Bell was founded by brothers Albert and Edward Rockwell of Bristol, Connecticut. They formed the company to manufacture a new type of electric doorbell they'd invented. In 1900, the company received a trial order for 120 bearings from the Old Motor Works, the largest automotive manufacturer of the time. But it was more than six decades before New Departure moved to Sandusky, and war factored into the decision. During World War II, New Departure manufactured bearings for the war effort. "Why Sandusky was chosen as the spot for this development is an interesting story in itself. It is sufficient to say that the natural advantages of the city, its shoreline location, its ample supply of water, its east-west transportation facilities and other factors were the determining considerations," an article in the Register Star Journal dated Jan. 30, 1945, states. In addition, the new location in Sandusky lessened vulnerability to enemy attacks. The new bearings plant would be safer in Ohio, a harder target for enemy aircraft to reach than the plants on the East Coast. New Departure in Sandusky opened June 14, 1947, covering 14 acres under a single roof. That same year, the United Auto Workers organized hourly employees, and the first union contract was negotiated and became effective in August 1948. After the war, the plant continued to operate and fully focused on making parts for automobiles, and it prospered considering: • In 1965, General Motors combined New Departure with Hyatt Roller Bearing division to form New Departure Hyatt Bearing Division in Sandusky. The company also brought 450 new families to Sandusky beginning in 1965 as workers transferred from plants in New Jersey and Connecticut. • In 1973, New Departure employed 2,839 people. • In 1974, the plant directly contributed $64 million into the local economy via payroll and local purchases, according to local newspaper articles. • In 1975, stable employment continued with 2,900 people working at the plant. • From the mid-1970s into the 1980s, considered the golden era of this operation, the plant employed about 5,000 people. It was considered the area's largest employer. It happened again in 1989 when New Departure started a process of transferring 112 employees from Bristol to Sandusky when the factory consolidated a spindle-bearing operation. "Some of the workers called Sandusky 'the frontier' because of its lack of shopping and other amenities. They thought it was treeless, wind-swept, flat," one New Departure executive told the Register at the time. The end of bearings manufacturing in Sandusky almost happened in 1986, when New Departure-Hyatt made the decision to leave the commercial ball bearings business, the industry it virtually invented in the 1900s, according to reports published at the time. GM merged Delco Moraine and New Departure-Hyatt into Delco Moraine. The restructuring and changes to survive continued when, in 1995, GM named the division Delphi Automotive. Delphi declared bankruptcy and was purchased by KBI, a subsidiary of HHI Group Holdings Inc. in 2008. Many locals expressed the feeling that the beginning of the end occurred with a judge's 2008 order in the Delphi bankruptcy proceeding. The judge required General Motors to subsidize KBI payroll until 2015. The subsidy meant KBI could not actively seek other contracts for years. Employees and union representatives have said KBI could not be competitive with overseas manufacturers they accused of "dumping" bearings into the U.S. market. In spring 2016, Kyklos Bearing International, or KBI, announced it would cease factory-related operations on Dec. 31 of that year, sending about 300 people into the job market. Up until Aligned purchased this site earlier on in 2023, it had been abandoned since 2017.