More Than Rumors, Offers Made for Old J&L Property

Image courtesy of the Bureau County Republican

The old J&L Steel property in Hennepin soon may be under new ownership, the Illinois Valley Area Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development learned Thursday evening at IVAC’s 105th annual dinner.

There are two offers on the table, executive director Joni Hunt said, but nothing is a done deal.

“The ball is in the owner’s court,” she said. Details, including the parties making the offers, are being kept secret.

Hunt also stressed she was not announcing a completed deal, and the information was instead part of Hunt telling the chamber what she and her office have accomplished over the past year.

The plant first was established in 1967 as J&L Steel and later taken over by LTV Steel. LTV Corp. announced its intention to close in 2001, prompting many layoffs, but some jobs were salvaged when International Steel Group acquired the property a year later. At the time of the plant’s closing in 2009, then-owner Arcelor Mittal employed 245 people.

In late 2014, a Michigan company acquired the former LTV Steel property and indicated it may raze the property for commercial use other than for a steel mill.

Source: News Tribune