Eastman Business Park

Eastman Business Park
Founder George Eastman
Headquarters Rochester, New York

Eastman Business Park, formerly Kodak Park, is a large manufacturing and industrial complex in the city of Rochester, New York, in the United States. The complex is run by Eastman Kodak and is located 3 miles (5 km) north of downtown Rochester and 4 miles (6 km) south of Lake Ontario. The complex runs parallel to New York State Route 104 and Mount Read Boulevard for most of its length.

Eastman Business Park is serviced by both CSX, via the Charlotte Running Track, and Norfolk Southern, via the Rochester and Southern Railroad. The plant also maintains an intra-plant railroad. It was formerly serviced by the Rochester Subway via the Dewey Avenue surface connection.

The ashes of Eastman Kodak founder George Eastman are buried here.

History

Memorial to George Eastman at Eastman Business Park. His ashes lie beneath the Georgia marble monument.

In the decades following 1890 Kodak Park was constructed to meet the massive demand of Eastman Kodak Company's Photographic and Motion Picture Film products. The park would eventually become the largest photographic product manufacturing facility in the world, employing over 15,000 employees in over 154 different buildings spanning its 1,300 acres.[1]

In the mid 2000s Eastman Kodak began downsizing its film manufacturing operations due to the shrinking demand for film. A number of unused buildings[2] were demolished in 2007.[3]

On November 11, 2008 Eastman Kodak officially renamed Kodak Park "Eastman Business Park" and began an aggressive marketing campaign to attract new tenants to the park.[4]

During the Bankruptcy of Eastman Kodak in 2012 and 2013 Eastman Kodak began selling off a number of large assets in Eastman business park as it continued to downsize which included its coal power plant[5] as well numerous other land and building assets. [6]

Controversy

In 2012 It was revealed that Kodak had weapons grade uranium in an underground lab for almost 30 years.[7] While the uranium was not nearly enough to build a nuclear device the findings sparked outrage from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Companies and institutions in or near the Eastman Business Park

As Eastman Kodak Downsized the manufacturing facilities were leased out to both established and start-up manufacturing companies. Current Members[8] of Eastman Business Park Include:

Future of Eastman Business Park

Eastman Business Park has been described as a vital part of Rochester, NY's economic growth efforts.[17] State & Local Government and Eastman Kodak Company itself have been steadily working towards turning Eastman Business Park into an innovation hub which would attract large companies as well as small start up companies with a focus on green-tech, photonics, optics and material science to the park.[18]

See also

References

External links

Coordinates: 43°11′56″N 77°37′52″W / 43.199°N 77.631°W / 43.199; -77.631

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