Rubber, art, music: A transformation in Eau Claire

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (AP) — There was uncertainty, anger and sadness when Nathan Berg’s parents both lost their jobs at a massive tire plant along the Eau Claire River.

They weren’t alone.

When the announcement from Uniroyal-Goodrich came down in early 1991 that the 1.9 million-square-foot plant would be closed 18 months later, the results were the evaporation of 1,358 high-paying jobs and what seemed to be a death-knell for this northwestern Wisconsin city.

Rubber and tires had been the main industry here since the plant was established just a year after UW-Eau Claire was founded, in 1916.

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