“Neon in that environment has always been challenging. Presiding atop the refinery since 1951, the old sign had been showing its age. “I see it every morning when I get in, a little before 6:00.” When it came time to re-light the famous sign after a $2 million repair project, Domino officials chose Hardy to do the honors. “I’ve never seen a reason to leave,” said Hardy, now a laboratory analyst. One of those loyal employees is Charlotte Hardy, 74, who has worked at Domino Sugar since February 1969. “It’s unusual in the workplace these days, but not unusual for our company.” A sign of the times “Many employees have been here more than 40 years,” Peter O’Malley said. “Generation after generation of people have been coming to work at the Baltimore refinery, earning good wages and making quality products,” said Peter O’Malley, spokesman for ASR, the world’s largest sugar refinery. (ASR), plans to celebrate Domino’s centennial with not-yet-announced events that will be open to the public. This April, Domino’s owner, American Sugar Refinery, Inc. Late last year, it started producing limited-edition 100 th-anniversary sugar packets to be distributed in restaurants. Ships and barges deliver the sugar cane crystals via the Patapsco River, and the refinery produces white, brown and powdered sugar from it. Today, Domino Sugar processes 585,000 tons of raw sugar here. Centennial celebration in Aprilĭomino Sugar’s Baltimore refinery, one of three in the country, first opened on April 2, 1922. Smoke billowed from one of its 15 buildings, fire trucks rushed to the site, and the smell of burned sugar, akin to crème brulee, filled the air, according to witnesses.įortunately, no one was hurt, and the firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze. Its signature 120-foot-tall red sign represents the city as well as, say, Camden Yards or the Bromo-Seltzer tower.īut last April, while the sign was under renovation, a fire threatened the 30-acre campus, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many Baltimoreans can cite a similar connection to Domino Sugar, which opened on the Inner Harbor waterfront 100 years ago. After the two were married, Cassie stayed home with the children while Albert continued to work for the company for 47 years. “They had to keep it a secret,” from their boss, Bowers said. The company’s bowling league brought them together, and they started dating. Albert started in the mailroom and rose to the head of the billing department, and Cassie worked as a keypunch operator. Her parents, the late Albert and Cassie Bowers, met at the Baltimore refinery in the 1950s. remains under investigation.Last July, Charlotte Hardy, above, lit the restored sign at her longtime employer, Domino Sugar.īaltimore native Cathy Bowers owes her life to Domino Sugar. The cause of the fire, which started around 3 p.m. WMAR-2 News is waiting on a comment from Domino Sugar's corporate office, ASR Group. The fire temporarily interrupted operations. The firefighters did a great job."Īll of the refinery’s estimated 510 full-time employees were evacuated safely with no reported injuries. "I saw that it was on Domino's property and that it was pretty much contained to the area. "I went down to see the fire myself," said neighbor Ellen Worthing. Yesterday's fire had people reporting thick smoke and a strong odor of burnt sugar from across the harbor. "We allowed to fire to burn throughout the night just because it was in a contained area until the morning." "We've never left the scene," said Adams. “Once the excavator comes in and removes some of the bulk metals and materials, we’ll be able to get to the pit of the fire,” said public information officer Blair Adams.Īccording to officials there are three areas crews have been monitoring. RELATED: Fire breaks out at Domino Sugar facility in Baltimore The fire department tells WMAR it was waiting on an excavator to lift the collapsed structure. BALTIMORE - Hot spots from Tuesday's fire at the Domino Sugar raw sugar storage shed in South Baltimore burned into a second day Wednesday.
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