Nutley’s Roche demolishes La Monte buildings
December 9th, 2011 // 2:03 pm @ jmpickett
A symbol of Nutley’s industry has come down.
The buildings were owned by Roche, part of its Nutley-Clifton campus, which decided they were no longer necessary.
“As a research and early development site, we are continuing to assess our facilities and have determined that several buildings are no longer needed, based on the scope of work done on site, as well as our employee population,” Darien Wilson, Roche public affairs director told the Sun.
Roche is considering “a number of options” for the property.
“We are in the process of demolishing several buildings on Kingsland Street, and once they are leveled, we plan to conduct remediation work to comply with environmental regulations before any decision is made regarding the property,” Wilson said. “We will continue to share information regarding our properties with the Nutley Township as appropriate.”
In 1871, George La Monte obtained a patent to manufacture safety paper, used for financial documents like checks, and began an iconic township industry – George La Monte & Son. The Kingsland Paper Mills were organized to manufacture the paper in 1897, the same year the first mill was erected, and in 1905, Kingsland merged with La Monte and his son.
According to the book “Nutley Yesterday Today,” published by the Nutley Historical Society in 1961, the company once employed 300 residents.
Roche purchased the property from the Georgia Pacific Co. in 1968.
Roche donated crest and other pieces from the factory to the Nutley Historical Society.
During the years, the buildings housed several Roche departments. The last of the employees were relocated onto the main campus last January, according to the company.
