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ROCK HILL When Mamie Brady drives past the empty field where the Celanese plant stood, memories come flickering back.
It was the place Brady worked for 26 years, inspecting spools of yarn as they rolled off machines. All that's left of the plant today, at least to people passing by, is a rusted water tower and a lone brick building.
"It makes you have a knot in your stomach," Brady said. "We worked there for so long. Now it's just gone. Sort of like your house got mowed down."
Crews finished demolishing the plant more than a year ago. But the people who worked there got back together Wednesday for what amounted to a rare mixing of Rock Hill's past and future.
Brady and more than 80 former co-workers came to hear about Riverwalk, the massive redevelopment project taking shape on the grounds of the old plant on North Cherry Road. Organizers called it the largest gathering of ex-employees since Celanese closed in 2005.
Dave Williams, the developer overseeing Riverwalk, talked about plans for a marker to pay tribute to Celanese employees. It would stand in a visible spot at the new project site, which will include an outdoor shopping village, business park, recreation complex and hundreds of homes.
The quick work of the bulldozers came as a shock for ex-employees like Herbert Knox. Knox said he was glad workers will be remembered, even though he still can't believe the plant itself has disappeared.
It was a common sentiment at Wednesday's gathering.
"I never could imagine Celanese leaving, period," said Knox, a veteran of the plant's twisting and seaming operations. "It's been there all my life."
Some reminders of Celanese will remain at the site. Crews plan to repaint the rusted water tower and leave it in place as a landmark for Riverwalk. A 1940s-era train locomotive used by Celanese will be refurbished and put in a park.
Shortly after Williams moved into an office on the Celanese grounds, a man showed up with an unusual request. He asked if Williams would let him take a brick from the building where he used to work.
For Williams, it was an eye-opening lesson in the pride felt by Celanese alumni. "From that day on, we always made sure we had bricks available for anyone who stopped by," he said.
