The Kaufman plant, which has been in Collingwood since 1919, is gone.

On Tuesday, demolition crews used a wrecking ball and took about 60 minutes to take down the smokestack on the site of the former furniture making plant.

The plant closed in 2005 and the rest of the building was demolished earlier this year.

The plant opened as the Imperial Steel and Wire Company and shipped nails across Canada. It was partially destroyed by fire in 1919 and then became home to Clyde Aircraft Manufacturing, which made the Mosquito bombers during the Second World War.

The furniture portion of the plant started after the war when the company - which later became Kaufman  - started making do-it-yourself plywood furniture for the British Board of Trade.

Kaufman began exporting home furniture throughout North America in the 1940s. During the final years of the company, they manufactured footwear and furniture for hotels.

Sonny Foley, owner of Foley's Furnishings and a town councillor, was one of the company's largest dealers. Foley said he was disappointed to see the smokestack demolished, he had hoped it would have remained and been incorporated into a future development.

"They certainly made a good product," said Foley. "I thought they had a great business plan."

Collingwood CAO Gordon Norris worked for the company for about five years as an internal auditor and estimator of furniture.

Norris said at its highest point the company employed about 350 people and made "a higher-end product."

"It is a legacy that is hard to overlook. It was a great place to work," he said.

Norris said they had a lot of craftsmen at the plant and said it was more satisfying "when you see the end result of something that is likely going to be a family heirloom."

"It's much more satisfying to do that than to make a caliper for a disc brake," he said.

Norris said the quality of Kaufman furniture can be seen at Town Hall, as six offices including his and the mayor's are furnished with Kaufman Furniture.

Former Mayor Terry Geddes said he was disappointed to hear the smokestack was demolished.

He remembered taking tours of the plant when he was young and being able to see a piece of furniture made from start to finish.

Geddes said the reputation of Kaufman brought great attention to Collingwood.

"My memories are of the people that worked there and how skilled they were," he said.
Council recently passed an Official Plan Amendment that re-designated the property resort commercial, which would open it up to hotels and similar uses.

According to senior planner Nancy Farrer there is no application on the books for the property.