Chemtool Cuts its Last Tie to Rockton

According to Illinois Secretary of State records, Piper Industrial LLC is headquartered at 2501 9th St. in Rockford. That’s the same address listed for Rock River Industrial LLC. The registered agent for Rock River Industrial is Kyle Johnson of Rockford Realty.

When contacted, Johnson said he would not discuss the ownership structure of the building.

“The ultimate final use of the building is not clear at this point,” Johnson said.

A building permit was taken out with the Winnebago County Building Department on Sept. 5 to do interior demolition.

The West Rockton Road building was built in 1977 and served as a research and test facility for Woodward Inc. for more than 20 years. Chemtool, a division of Ohio-based Lubrizol, bought the building in 2009 to serve as company headquarters.

Chemtool moved out after a June 2021 fire destroyed its chemical and lubricants manufacturing plant on Prairie Hill Road in Rockton. The fire burned for a week and caused evacuations of some homes near the plant.

{div class=”subscriber-only”}The building had been on the market for more than a year. On May 28, it was put up for auction on Tex-X.com, an online commercial real estate exchange, with an opening bid price of $900,000. It did not receive a qualifying bid.

Patricia Diduch, Rockton planning and development administrator, said there has been no communication between the new property owner and the village. Rockton officials are eager to see the building put back into use. ”Before the fire, Chemtool was one of the three biggest employers in Rockton, along with Taylor (Co.) and Hononegah High School,” Diduch said. “We certainly would love to see a company move in there.” Alicia Gauer, vice president of communications for Lubrizol, did not return an email asking about the sale.{/div}

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