Reader comments
Photographer chronicles Geneva Steel's demise

Papparazzo Jim !!! | 12:31 a.m. March 12, 2008

Awesome job Chris. Your efforts will benefit many generations to come.

SJ Bobkins | 1:51 a.m. March 12, 2008

That makes good sense. He gets access to the most mismanaged business venture ever attempted in the state, in return for taking photos of the losers who rode the plant into the ground. Only in Utah.
The negative was that the plant was so far from shipping ports, and built in a valley, subject to inversion, that couldn't deal with the horrible pollution. Orem always had the sickly, sulfuric, smell that couldn't be too good for the kids that had to breath it. During WWII having a steel plant so far from potential Japanese attack was a plus. After the war distance was a disadvantage, and after US Steel unloaded the plant the buffoons had their way, thankfully ending the mess.

Coilbox Deno | 5:19 a.m. March 12, 2008

Great effort Chris...too bad you couldn't photogragh the real workers at Geneva and how they look after the 'closing' and destruction. Maybe a look at the bank accounts of the executives compared to the laborers...that would make great photos. Thanks

Comments continue below

Carolyn | 6:55 a.m. March 12, 2008

Dear Ms. Haddock,
My Dad worked for Geneva Steel for 35 years and many of our relatives and friends worked there as well. I would like to know if you plan on selling any of your photos or if you will publish them in a book? I would like to buy some if you do. Thanks.
Carolyn, Altoona, Pa.

Why | 8:02 a.m. March 12, 2008

must it be political? I think part of what the photographer was trying to capture was the actual people who spent entire careers there providing for their families. Pollution or not, the plant was still an icon that many people will remember as having a significant impact on their lives. My grandfather, a schoolteacher, worked during his summers off driving coal trucks at this plant. He had nine children and the extra money helped to make ends meet. Historicity is the important thing here. Let's remember that.

Thank You | 8:10 a.m. March 12, 2008

Thanks for documenting the demise of a very prominent piece of the growth of Utah Valley. It's not often that such a noticeable part of a community breaks down into nothing, and you capturing it is a perfect addition to our history.

Let me get this straight | 8:39 a.m. March 12, 2008

SJ Bobkins lists the numerous disadvantages of having a steel mill in Utah County, but then complains that "buffoons" mismanged it into oblivion.

So was it a good steel mill that was not run properly, or a lousy steel mill that eventually succumbed to its drawbacks?

Oh Please | 10:17 a.m. March 12, 2008

Such a monument to the management genius of your DMN editor, Mr. Cannon, and his eminent brother, the congressman. A million tons of scrap instead of a thriving, clean, high-tech industry. Nucor, anyone?

BOH-ring | 11:20 a.m. March 12, 2008

Yawn. Zzzzz. What an uninteresting bit of photojournalism. You've GOT to be kidding me. Holy cow. Sigh.

russ | 11:25 a.m. March 12, 2008

Sounds like a great idea and you are to commended for carrying it out. You have recorded history. My dad worked there for years and years, and we went through a couple of labor strikes where I learned more than I did at school.

Strikes allowed my dad to show his kind side by taking us kids for ice cream cones every single day of the strike that the place was open.

I remember. Thanks for photographing it all at the end. I will probably buy the book when I see it.

Dakotah | 12:02 p.m. March 12, 2008

Projects like this are needed to preserve the history of an area. The images will be invaluable to generations to come. Whether you view them as positive or negative doesn't matter. The time and committment to do the job is going to reward generations to come with a record of what was.

SLC gal | 12:59 p.m. March 12, 2008

I got some great pics of Crossroads before it hit the wrecking ball. ZCMI too. Anyone want to see those? I can even throw in my photos of the Crossroads theater (when it was still operating), and The Flick (when Trolley still had movie theaters).

I like the idea of preserving the past, obviously, but I must say I have a total unappreciation for Geneva Steel. The pics aren't very pretty to look at.

sorry | 1:38 p.m. March 12, 2008

For me - I wish I had the opportunity to see it in action . As a long time Metallographer , looking at the end product was without question fascinating . What can happen to material when man try's to change the structure that came to us in raw form. I'm sorry too that preservation of some sort was not possible. Who will be getting all the material from this project?

Interpreting the various phases in the photos would be helpful.

Re: BOH-ring | 3:40 p.m. March 12, 2008

You obviously don't understand how important this was to many people in our community. This was a huge part of many lives and devastating when the announcement came that it would be closing. What Chris has done has made a way for us to remember...

SDP | 4:55 p.m. March 12, 2008

Geneva helped build Utah Valley. Many people benefited from having it here including my grandfather who retired from Geneva. He died more years ago than I care to remember and now a part of my grandfather is now gone. I'm grateful that I was able to see the Open Hearth furnaces in action before they were shut down. Some may not care for what the company became and how it was managed in later years but this documentation of history is invalueable.

Ex-Geneva Employee | 6:02 p.m. March 12, 2008

I worked at Geneva, until just before it was shuttered. Thankfully, I left just before the plant was closed, and found another well paying job. But, I have many close associates who went through alot of heartache getting back on their feet financially. In the end, foriegn competition spelled the demise of Geneva, yes the plant could've been modernized, but I don't think that the benefits justified the cost. I don't fault the Cannons or anyone else for Geneva's closing, it was an OLD plant, technology was another factor in Geneva's closing.
I worked in the Rolling Mill, Blast Furnace, and in the end, the Coke Plant, and these photos bring back great memories of times spent with friends at work. Don't get me wrong, it was a job, like any other job, but the people was what made this place special, and I met some great people at work.
If these photos can evoke that type of emotion in me, and others who walked through the gates of Geneva, they are well worth it.

Re: Re: BOH-ring | 8:32 p.m. March 12, 2008

Ya know, you've made me rethink my position. I now appreciate this fine body of work. Thanks for helping me to understand a different point of view. My remarks were insensitive.

Easy to Swallow | 8:46 p.m. March 12, 2008

I didn't work at Geneva Steel

I am not a photographer or have any knowledge concerning the matter.

Those are cool pictures.

People need to see how junky it is over there to motivate them to go clean it up someday.

(Put in a wicked cool skate park or something!!)

What's next? | 9:28 p.m. March 12, 2008

Are photographers tracking the demise of the Deseret News too?

Texas Utahn | 8:35 a.m. March 13, 2008

I am alive because Geneva Steel provided a place for my machinist father to ply a trade for thirty years and provide for my family while growing up in American Fork. I remember during one steelworkers' strike against a terrible management group, that the workers used the then-new two dollar bills to pay for everything they bought during the strike. It was a wonderful and unique way to see the impact that Geneva Steel had as two dollar bills flooded local businesses. I almost wept as I read about the smokestacks falling and this piece of my personal life fading into a history it now seems, based on some of the comments here, that few are aware of. Thank you, Mr. Dunker, for preserving the sense of this place for future generations; I applaud your effort and would certainly buy a book of your photos.

Museum of Art Exhibit | 12:10 a.m. March 14, 2008

I was able to attend the lecture and exhibit opening at the Museum of Art tonight at BYU.

It's well worth the time to view the exhibit--both from the perspective of Art and of Documentary. This is more than just a few 'cool snapshots' of a razed steel mill.

The reproductions here cannot do the actual gallery prints justice.
But...go and see and experience it for yourself.

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