![]() "It's basically the same process and the same chips, but the end product will be different," he said. For the most part, it is the inside of the kraft pulp mill that will change, explained Tom Hill, market pulp machine superintendent. "For a change we are going to be making things in America that are going to go to China, instead of the opposite way."Īlthough Friday's ceremony was a groundbreaking, the appearance of the mill complex will be largely unchanged, although they are adding on to two buildings. "We believe we can make things in this country and that's exactly what this project is all about," Klobuchar told the crowd. Klobuchar applauded both the vision of the mill's executives and the dedication of its workers. We look at workforce skill, raw materials and assets. "They make a very high quality and high consistency pulp. Gardner said other factors that favored Cloquet was the "wood basket" - the kind, availability and cost of wood in this region - and the employees at the Cloquet mill. "And the particular way this pulp mill was designed will help facilitate the conversion." "This is the most modern hardwood craft mill in the United States," Gardner said. ![]() The relatively newly built pulp mill is part of the reason Sappi chose to invest in Cloquet. The Cloquet project is the largest investment Sappi has made in North America in some time, and the largest investment at the mill itself since the $500 million former Potlatch mill expansion here in the 1990s. Following the conversion of Sappi's Cloquet mill, Sappi's total chemical cellulose capacity will grow to over 1.3 million metric tons per year. Sappi is already the world's largest manufacturer of chemical cellulose out of its Saiccor mill in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, which underwent an expansion and modernization earlier this year. "On behalf of the people of Cloquet, we thank you for your vision and your commitment to our community," he added. This is a tremendous investment, and it ensures a strong future for the company, its employees, their families and our community. "My mother worked here, my uncles and my cousins worked here. "The mill has provided generations of families a good living here in Cloquet," Ahlgren said. Amy Klobuchar to Sappi North America President and CEO Mark Gardner spoke about the importance of the $170 million project. Plans were announced last November to convert the existing kraft pulp mill from making pulp to production of chemical cellulose, a purer form of cellulose which can be made into a fabric for clothing, wet wipes and other consumer products.ĭignitaries were out in force Friday morning for the official groundbreaking as everyone from Cloquet Mayor Bruce Ahlgren to U.S. Now, a massive investment in new technology by Sappi should keep a mill operating in Cloquet for years to come.īut the mill will be making more than paper. What began as Northwest Paper was purchased by Potlatch and then, more recently, by Sappi Fine Paper. Louis River in Cloquet for more than 110 years. There's been a paper mill on the same site on the banks of the St. "Right outside this mill is where I pretended to fall down so we could stop," she said. The younger Klobuchar and her father headed out on a bike ride from Plymouth, Minn., with the wind at their backs, and pedaled 140 miles in one day. Amy Klobuchar told the story of her very first visit to Cloquet, when she was in junior high. Wright also designed and built a home nearby for the Lindholm family, but it was moved to western Pennsylvania in June 2016.During last Friday's ground breaking for the conversion project at Cloquet's Sappi Fine Paper mill, U.S. Note: this a working gas station with gas prices competitive with other stations. The Cloquet station, built when Wright's career was at its nadir (again) carries its own poignant back story. Wright designed one other gas station, for Buffalo, NY, but it exists in model-form only. FLW frankensteins will have no trouble spending an hour-plus here checking out the details and construction materials. When we stopped on a weekend morning, a lone mechanic was eager to talk about the station's history (the pumps initially were designed to be located in the canopy) and listen to Wright stories from visitors. But at the site itself, Wright's classic Prairie design shines through the signature cantilevered canopy and the embrace-and-release stairs leading up to the glass waiting room for customers, where windows echo the windows at Fallingwater (built 20 years earlier). The gas station, built in 1956, lies amid a clutter of stop lights, directional signs and service-station stuff. A quick glance at this FLW site in Cloquet is disappointing.
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