CHICAGO (AP) — Mars Wrigley is closing a chocolate factory on Chicago’s West Side and plans to donate the building hailed for its Spanish-style architecture.
The company said the plant built in 1928 will be phased out during the next two years and the 280 workers there will be “encouraged to explore the opportunities to apply for open roles across our network, specifically in the Chicago area.”
The Chicago Tribune reported that the factory was built on 16 acres in a residential area bordering Oak Park that once was part of a golf club. The company statement said it plans to donate the property “for the use of the community.”
Mars acquired Chicago-based Wrigley in 2008 and moved its global headquarters to New Jersey in 2017. Mars Wrigley still operates a Burr Ridge ice cream factory, a Yorkville candy factory in Yorkville and a Mattoon pet nutrition manufacturing site in Illinois.