Speareflex Block

The Speareflex Block was used for residential purposes until approximately 1880 and Dewing & Son’s Lumber Yard through the turn of the century. The four-story building pictured above was built in 1910 by Kalamazoo Paper Box Company, a manufacturer of candy containers and other cardboard boxes, located on-site between 1910 and 1930. Meanwhile, Shakespeare Manufacturing Company constructed and occupied three buildings on the north half of the block in 1913. In 1930, Shakespeare took over the entire block, with subsequent building additions in 1936, 1937, 1939, 1941, 1947, 1955 and 1956. Shakespeare, a well known manufacturer of fishing equipment, also produced mortar fuses during World War I, fibre brooms in the 1920s, and carburetor and aircraft controls in the 1930s. The company moved its operations from Kalamazoo in 1981. Speareflex Company, a manufacturer of automotive flexible controls, subsequently occupied the site between 1981 and 1988. The Speareflex Block has stood vacant for nearly ten years. The City of Kalamazoo purchased the site from the State of Michigan in 1995, the result of ownership reversion due to non-payment of taxes. Adverse environmental conditions have been well documented at the site since the late 1980s. Between 1987 and 1996, more than $ ½ million was spent by private sector consultants, the MDNR (now the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality) Superfund Section, the USEPA’s Tactical Assistance Team, and the City of Kalamazoo conducting several environmental investigations and cleanups. Known environmental concerns include airborne asbestos and lead hazards, three 10,000-gallon fuel oil tanks that have been confirmed to be leaking, one gasoline underground storage tank, and building #12. Building #12, originally used as a plating room and subsequently converted to a degreasing operation, has been identified as a source area for significant chlorinated solvent contamination of on-site soil and groundwater. From the beginning, the city has intended to save the original four-story Kalamazoo Paper Box Company building, as well as an Art Deco-style office building constructed in 1939, which had served as Shakespeare’s corporate office.