SENECA — A well-known landmark, the former Seneca Shipyard of World War II, has been purchased by a large regional cooperative in agriculture products and services.
Growmark of Bloomington closed on the sale Friday, Jan. 21. George Lamb, who sold the 55-acre Seneca Industrial Park on Shipyard Road to the cooperative, confirmed the trade Tuesday.
The acquisition includes 45,000 tons of dry fertilizer storage, the barge loading dock on the Illinois River, and equipment, warehouses, trucks and the like. Growmark plans to add liquid nitrogen storage to the site.
“Basically, I’m out of the business,” Lamb noted. “It feels good. I am going to stay on for six months and help with the transition to the new owner.”
The acquisition will also help Growmark expand its storage capacity, and products the cooperative offers at the Seneca location.
Jerry Anderson of Seneca, a 20-year employee of the industrial park, will stay on as general manager under the Growmark ownership.
Growmark is a regional cooperative that provides agriculture products and services, and grain marketing in the Midwest and Ontario, Canada. Crop inputs and energy-related services are also marketed by the cooperative and its subsidiaries to producers in the Northeast.
The acquisition will help the cooperative sustain the ability to supply fertilizer products to local FS companies and other customers throughout the region into the future, Rod Wells, Growmark director of agronomy sales and operations, noted.
The cooperative owns the FS trademark used by affiliated member cooperatives.
“Growmark basically does the same as I’ve been doing,” Lamb said. “They’ve been a customer of mine for five years.
“They’re a very good company, and will be an asset to the area. They have 500 workers, and they’re into fertilizers, fuels, propanes and lubricants. I feel very good about it for myself and my employees.”
Growmark joins REG Seneca LLC in locating in the former Prairie Shipyard, where the federal government constructed LSTs (Landing Ship Tanks) for the World War II effort of the early 1940s.
REG Seneca, owned by the Renewable Energy Group of Ames, Iowa, purchased and reopened the former Seneca Nova Biodiesel refinery on Shipyard Road in July 2010. The approximately 50-acre site was originally purchased by Seneca Nova from Lamb in 2006 to construct what was then announced would be the nation’s largest biodiesel refinery.
The site is also known for its involvement in the Ty-Walk Liquid Sales grain elevator collapse of the early 2000s. The Minooka elevator failure was the largest grain elevator failure in Illinois history, accounting for $42 million in grain claims and about 7 million bushels in missing corn and soybeans.
Ty-Walk had arranged with Lamb to utilize the Seneca facility for grain storage and its barge loading capability. Lamb said 5 million bushels of Ty-Walk grain was stored at the Seneca terminal. When Ty-Walk collapsed, he lost $1.8 million, Lamb recalled.
Lamb started his career at the Seneca site in 1977, working for Continental Grain (Conti Carriers), then joined their management program. When Continental decided, in 1980, to go out of business, Lamb saw this as a good opportunity, and he and a Streator trucking company owner purchased the site.
“I bought my partner out when the Ty-Walk elevator offer came along,” Lamb said.
Portions of the site were sold to other businesses through the years. The 55-acre Growmark acquisition ends Lamb’s ownership at the old shipyard site.
“My dad ran the first crane on the dock when it was the shipyard,” he said. “I was raised on our property next door to the shipyard. Just a fence separated us from the shipyard. My family moved to Seneca when I was 4 years old. I’ve been here since 1953.”
Lamb recalled bringing different businesses into the site, and creating an industrial development on part of the property. The Seneca Regional Port District assisted with his development efforts.
“Together we made a nice little niche for the village,” he said. “The Port District helped me, and I appreciate what they’ve done, and what the people in Seneca have done. I’ve always had a good working relationship with the village council, and I’ve tried to be a good neighbor. I think Growmark will do the same.”
Lamb said Growmark has operated from the terminal the past five years. Although others were interested in the site after he decided to retire, he offered the property to Growmark first, and they accepted.
“It’s a sad moment in one respect, and good in another. I collect and rebuild old cars, and this will give me something to do in retirement,” he said. “This gives my wife and me a chance to enjoy things, and visit our daughter, Lauren, in Texas. We worked for everything we’ve got.”