There is almost nothing left still standing of the former Maple Leaf Foods operations in Cloverdale, where crews are tearing down the vacant structures on the massive site.
The sprawling property is approximately the size of a city block, fronting 176 Street and 55B Avenue.
The plant, located at 5523 176 Street, closed in September 2011.
At the time, a Maple Leaf Foods Inc. planned to sell the operations to Premium Brands.
A spokesperson for Premium Brands told the Cloverdale Reporter the company planned to refurbish the plant and relocate its Richmond, B.C.,-based Grimms Fine Foods operation to the Surrey location by the end of 2012.
However, that hasn’t happened, and despite calls to Maple Leaf Foods last week, further details weren’t available by the Reporter’s press deadline.
The closure of the Maple Leaf plant, shipping facility and its factory outlet shop resulted in the layoffs of 155 employees.
At the time of the original announcement that the operations were to be shut down, closure costs, including severance and decommissioning the facility, were anticipated to come in at approximately $12 million.
The Cloverdale plant was previously home to Schneiders Foods, and produced prepared meat products such as ham, sliced meat, sausage and deli products that were sold across Western Canada.