Demolition begins on old Wrigley gum factory.
Demolition has started on the old Wrigley gum factory, and down with it goes a part of the city’s manufacturing history.
Wrecking crews this week have begun clawing away the structure, once home to the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.
Built in 1911, the company’s factory contained 175,000 square feet used exclusively for making the company’s signature gum flavors, like Spearmint and Doublemint.
The gum plant was closed in 2006 after an about-face by the Wrigley company, which verbally agreed to keep the plant open “in exchange for a subsidy to build a research center on Goose Island” but never committed to the plan in writing, according to the Sun-Times.
According to various media reports, a plan by the global real estate firm CBRE to turn the site into a high-tech manufacturing hub was scrapped, and CBRE sold it to Avgeris for about $5 million, a fraction of the $19 million asking price.
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