PARK HILLS — A glass factory that’s been one of Park Hills’ largest employers is shutting down.
Piramal Glass met with city officials to discuss the decision Tuesday, Mayor John Clark told the Post-Dispatch. The last day of production will be March 31, Clark said. More than 200 people will be laid off.
Company spokesman Scott Winder said a “skeleton crew” will likely stay on for a while to process and distribute remaining products in the company’s warehouse.
Winder said the factory’s furnaces are worn out, and that Piramal, which is owned by New York private equity firm Blackstone Capital, decided to close the facility rather than pay to fix or replace them.
The decision marks an end to decades of business for the glass factory. Clark, the mayor, said the facility began as Flat River Glass in the 1970s, and was a welcome reprieve for the area following layoffs at nearby lead mines.
It employed 530 people in 2005, making it the largest employer in Park Hills, which lies 65 miles south of St. Louis in St. Francois County. Cuts in recent years have slashed that payroll in half, but Clark said it remained a valuable employer. The jobs all paid more than $20 per hour, he said, and the workers were unionized.
“It’ll be tough to replace those jobs,” Clark said.
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