Daley Celebrates Steel Plant Opening

citizen |

Alderman Michelle Harris (8) (left), former Mayor Richard M. Daley (center) and Rev. Dr. Willie T. Barrow (right) at South Shore High School on May 12. Daley visited the 8th Ward during one of the last stops on his Neighborhood Appreciation Tour. Ald. Harris presented Daley with an award. (Photo Credit: Jerome Photography)
Alderman Michelle Harris (8) (left), former Mayor Richard M. Daley (center) and Rev. Dr. Willie T. Barrow (right) at South Shore High School on May 12. Daley visited the 8th Ward during one of the last stops on his Neighborhood Appreciation Tour. Ald. Harris presented Daley with an award. (Photo Credit: Jerome Photography)

by Thelma Sardin

Last Friday evening at around 5 p.m., Richard M. Daley left the 5th Floor of City Hall for the last time as Mayor of Chicago.

In the last weeks before he left office, Daley embarked on a 50 Ward Neighborhood Appreciation Tour.

Last Thursday, he visited the 8th Ward. Among the 8th Ward stops included South Shore High School and A. Finkl & Sons Steel Plant.

Ald. Michelle Harris discussed with the Citizen how Daleys legacy will affect Chicago.

He certainly leaves a legacy of education because he loves and has a passion for children and our educational system, she said.

Ald. Harris added that Daley opened 44 schools during his tenure. She also mentioned the large amount of economic development Daley brought to Chicago including the new A. Finkl & Sons Steel Plant in the 8th Ward.

The new steel plant will keep 300 jobs in Chicago. A. Finkl & Sons will move from its longtime Lincoln Park location later this year to the $150 million steel manufacturing campus located at 1355 E. 93rd St.

Finkl Steel is a great example of a mid-sized company that has been able to expand because of its commitment to our City and its willingness to work with government to develop a plan for staying in Chicago, Daley said in a news conference held at the site.

According to a news release, the City has supported the project by selling the developer six parcels of land that will make it easier to provide the electrical service necessary to power the furnaces that will be built there.

When it is completed, Finkl will have built a new state-of-the-art industrial campus that will quintuple its production capacity and retain more than 300 manufacturing jobs, the release stated.

Daley said Finkl will continue to uphold its longstanding commitment to the environment in many ways at the new plant, including recycling more than 95 percent of the waste produced and using 100 percent recycled scrap metal.

This is another great example of how by working together, we can create a bright future for Chicago , Daley said.

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