Name: Stelco Number 2 Rod Mill Location: Hamilton, Ontario Status: Being Demolished Accessibility: Difficult Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Let's keep this between you and me. One evening I answered my door to see Arc Tangent and Stewie standing on my porch, two Hamilton explorers, neither of which could drive, in the middle of the suburbs. What’s going on here? They tell me Watson’s in the car and we’re going to pick up Shiroi and then head to Hamilton, there’s something I absolutely have to see. The five of us head to East Hamilton, park the car under a bridge and disembark on foot toward an old set of train tracks, covered in weeds. Next we lumber through the brush, breaking trail through trees and weeds. And before I know it we’re trespassing, slipping past a poorly constructed perimeter fence and quickly approaching a large factory. If they hadn’t told me it was shutdown I probably wouldn’t have believed it. Our entrance to this gargantuan factory, an open door, I can hardly believe it, this is all way too easy. Walking inside the mill for the first time I’m blown away, there's still power and all the equipment has been left behind. However there’s something nagging at the back of my mind, it’s all too good to be true. Things like this just don’t sit derelict and unwatched. The mill was left in incredible condition, it’s like everyone just got up and left the week before. What's even more startling is that the mill was already closed for over 2 years. During Stelco’s large scale restructuring, after receiving bankruptcy protection, several of the more unprofitable divisions got the axe. The Rod Mill included. All the machinery still remains, there’s jackets in lockers, hard hats sitting on benches, I would swear if you pushed enough buttons you could probably restart manufacturing. We spent hours scouring the mill's many machines, conveyors, stairwells, offices, basements, catwalks and control rooms without seeing a soul, slowly that dreaded feeling that we might spot a worker any second disappeared. As it starts to get late Shiroi and I are faced with a choice, we have to leave now or get stranded in Hamilton, now’s our only chance to get a ride back to Oakville. We reluctantly accept the offer with still so much more to see. Arc and I make sure to return several more times throughout the year to further explore the rest of the mill. That is, until it becomes impossible. September 5th, 2006 BACK