The Boys of Hale – One More Walk Around the Plant

The Boys of Hale

One More Walk Around the Plant

By Jack Coll

4-30-22

     Phase two of the former Hale Pumps property at the corner of Seventh Avenue and Spring Mill Avenue will begin with the demolition of the old plant any day now. Tyson Homes, a Conshohocken based Contracting Company who did a nice job during phase one of the Hale property will be constructing 23 new houses, eleven of them single homes, four twin homes and eight townhouses on the property.

     A few years ago, Tyson Homes demolished the Hale offices and the research and development building once located at the corner of Seventh Avenue and Jones Street and built eight houses on that property. 

     Ty Borkowski, president of Tyson Homes offered a few former employees of the Hale Fire Pump Company one last look into the past by visiting the building, to reminisce.  Having worked at Hale Pumps for 16 years I decided to join the mini reunion and check out the plant one last time.

     Hale Fire Pump Company was founded in 1914 by three Main Line firefighters that included Alan Hale, E. J. Wendell and Charles Young, Jr.  These guys believed they could make a better fire pump using gasoline engine technology. 

     By 1917 the company had grown and they moved their production facility to Spring Mill Avenue in Conshohocken.  By the early 1970’s there were three buildings, along with the Spring Mill Avenue location there were two more buildings on Washington Street, what they called an assembly building and a foundry built in 1972.  In 1981 an office building was added on West Seventh Avenue.  At the height of production there were nearly 250 union employees with dozens of office workers and support staff.

     In the spring of 2012 Hale Pumps closed their Conshohocken operations and moved to Florida to continue the business in an upgraded, more modern facility.  When the plant officially closed there were less than 35 union employees.

     So, on Friday morning, April 22, I stood in the parking lot as a number of former employees came limping in one-by-one.  There was Joe Carracappa who worked in production, Joe was with Hale for about 45 years, then came Billy Sites who had also been with the company for about 45 years.  I hadn’t seen Bobby Rockett for some-time, I worked with his brother Michael in the foundry for a number of years.  And it was good to see Robin Slater whom I hadn’t seen in more than 25 years.

     Buddy Henning worked for Hale since 1977 and was still there when the company officially closed ten years ago.  Joe Cicutti seemed to be doing well as was Bruce Gaydos.  Ken McCormick, Jim Brown, Jim Newberry and an old friend Tom Wisniewski all showed up for the final dance through the plant.

       We walked, and talked, and told old stories, laughed, checked out the old locker rooms and work-spaces, bare walls and empty floors where machines used to hum.  I heard one of the guys say, “There’s where Vodge used to work, (Wilczynski) and that was Pupek’s (Dick) work station” as we made the slow stroll through the former plant.  We had a few laughs talking about guys like Michael Kelly, Jimmy Rich, Wilbur, (Powers), Tommy Rockett, who could forget Rockett, he would sneak up behind you, grab your face and kiss you right on the lips, as you were pulling away, he would take his teeth out of his mouth and ask you to hold them for a minute, what a memory.  

     We reminisced about a large number of employees whom we worked with over the years that included some really solid guys like Charlie Hansell, Paul Bolton, Fred Ferrier, Jimmy Foose, Bob Cushwa, Joe Hartman and Joe Meoli.  Nick Schauerman was a tough old dude, and Charles Nugent and John Reuben along with Tommy Zummo were solid guys.  I remembered Eddie Garnett, Ty Borkowski whom I worked in the foundry with for a number of years, Bob Reese, Eddie Ratkowski, George McCarron and so many others.

     When the walking and talking were done, and we were standing out in the parking lot where we began and hour earlier, I realized that of all the factory’s that had once called Conshohocken home and the thousands of residents who worked their entire life in these mills and factories to support their families rarely had an opportunity to revisit the plant where they retired from or the plant shut-down, and I felt grateful for the opportunity.

     A heartfelt thank you to Ty Borkowski from all the retired visitors and good luck with the borough’s new development on what will be known as “Foundryway.”