[FONT=Verdana]A former General Motors Corp. plant that once spanned more than a half million square feet has been reduced to little more than some large rubble piles.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]As that debris has been hauled away over the past few months, much of the steel, copper wiring and aluminum that once was inside Plant 11 is being sold to scrap processors.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]The demolition has yielded about 6,000 tons of steel, and the current high price for scrap metal has benefited GM as the money from its sale helps pay for the project.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]"They get work done quite a bit cheaper," said Rick Cuppetilli, project manager for Detroit-based Adamo Wrecking Co., which is handling the demolition.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]The city is benefiting from the demolition as the plant was in poor condition and could not have been redeveloped as anything but a warehouse, Mayor Kevin Smith said. Its removal will allow the city to pursue other businesses.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]"Part of it is psychological," Smith said. "By that building being there, there were still false hopes that GM will return."[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]The city's desire to see the plant torn down helped GM make the demolition decision, company spokeswoman Janine Fruehan said.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]The city about 25 miles northeast of Indianapolis once had some 27,000 GM workers, but only 700 employees at Delphi Corp. -- which spun off from GM in 1999 -- remain. Plant 11, which was built in 1956, produced generators until it was closed by Delphi last December.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]Cuppetilli said that by mid-July the plant will be demolished to its slab, with workers over the next few months filling holes on the site and landscaping it.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana] [/FONT]