Goodyear plant owners in Bowmanville get okay for demolition of 113 year-old building

The demolition of the former Goodyear tire plant in Bowmanville cleared an important hurdle last week when a request at Clarington Council to remove the century building from the Heritage Register was approved.

The former Goodyear/ContiTech Continental site is slated for development and there is a mixed-use proposal called Goodyear Village on the books from Karmina Developments of Pickering, who promised on their website they have “stepped forward to redevelop the derelict industrial buildings into a master-planned community.”

The property owner has promised to work with the municipality to try to preserve the Cement House (Building 27), the Powerhouse (Building 1), and the Chimney Stack.

The proposed Goodyear Village development

Goodyear Tire & Rubber, which was founded in Akron, Ohio in 1898, expanded to Bowmanville in 1910 when the company bought the existing Durham Rubber Company and employed as many as 2,200 workers during its peak during the Second World War.

A series of layoffs in subsequent years reduced the workforce to about 100 by the time the plant hit the century mark and slowdowns in the mining, coal and tar sands sector – the major markets for the conveyor belts made at the time in Bowmanville – contributed to the closure of the plant (now operated by ContiTech Continental) in 2016.

The 36.8 acre site was listed for sale in 2018 for $19.8 million.

The abandoned site at 45 Raynes Avenue made the news earlier this year when two fires just 42 hours apart – one determined to be deliberately set – had the Clarington Fire Department on alert, with Fire Chief David Speed warning the owners of the vacant building to ensure there is round-the-clock security to prevent further acts of vandalism and arson.