The former Willow Run bomber plant in Ypsilanti Township — built by Henry Ford to make planes for the U.S. military during World War II and later used as a powertrain plant by General Motors Co. — is likely to be razed later this year to make way for new development.
Three women who worked at the bomber factory came back for the first time since the war in a trip organized by the American Rosie the Riveter Association.
An additional 27 “Rosies” who worked in war production at other plants also attended.
With the sun splattering the industrial wreckage strewn about the gravel surface outside the abandoned factory, the Rosies peered up at the plant’s 150-foot-wide, 36-foot-tall bay doors as they swung open.
Those doors, an engineering marvel, opened 8,685 times to allow B24 bombers to roll out and onto the next-door Willow Run Airport for immediate test flights during the war.
“I want to go to work!” said former Willow Run bomber plant worker Blanche Mericle, 95, of Belleville as the bay doors opened.
The visit came as the nearby Yankee Air Museum is trying to raise $5 million in two months through SaveTheBomberPlant.org to acquire a 175,000-square-foot portion of the 5 million-square-foot factory to save it from demolition and convert into its future home.
Rosies return to former WWII bomber plant before demolition