ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Olmsted County Board approved a contract to raze the former Seneca Foods canning plant on the South End at Highway 14 and the railroad tracks. The $1.1 million contract went to Rachel Contracting of St. Michael, Minnesota. The building dates to 1925, when it was built by the the Reid-Murdoch canning company. It was acquired in 1982 by Seneca, which is known mostly for its Libby brand. The plan is for the giant blond brick structure to be gone by June. The site will be greened over temporarily, while the county works up plans to expand the Graham Park fairgrounds into a regional recreation destination.
New can-less cannery
Seneca already has shifted its Rochester operations to a new facility several blocks to the south on 20th Street Southeast. The existing rail spur to the 1924 plant has been extended a mile to the new 850,000-square foot frozen food distribution center. Seneca is based in Marion, New York. The company has plants in eight states.
Corn cob spared. The iconic 90-year-old corn cob water tower at the Seneca plant will remain and perhaps nominated for the National Register if Historic Places. The steel tan, erected in 1931, stands 149 feet tall on four steel legs.