Michigan: Saving a piece of history

Rosie the Riveter’s old plant in Michigan has officially avoided the wrecking ball now that the Yankee Air Museum has become the owner of a 144,000-square-foot piece of the former Willow Run Bomber Plant, where Rose Will Monroe and other workers built B-24 Liberator bombers during World War II. The Save the Willow Run Bomber Plant campaign raised $8 million needed to save the building for the nearby Yankee Air Museum’s new home. The Willow Run factory, which was built by Ford Motor Co., and featured a mile-long assembly line, churned out one B-24 every hour — nearly 9,000 in all. It transitioned to producing cars after the war ended and made them and parts for more than a half-century under the GM name.

Associated Press

This story was originally published November 9, 2014 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Michigan: Saving a piece of history."