#TBT: Closure of Corpus Christi's O&R Dept. in 1959 dealt hard blow to city
Most know the facility as CCAD, the Corpus Christi Army Depot, and one of the largest industrial employers in the city. Back in the late 1950s, when known as the Overhaul & Repair Department, its closure dealt a hard blow to the area’s economy.
The facilities began as part of the new Naval Air Station in 1941, though it was known as the Assembly and Repair Department. About 1,400 civilian workers, men and women, assembled the new planes and overhauled ones brought back in for repairs. After the end of the war, the department continued its work and even expanded in 1948 to add more workers. The name was also changed to Overhaul and Repair Department at the same time.
Through the 1950s, the department continued to expand. By 1956, the department employed nearly 3,300 civilian workers and 95 Navy personnel, and the 1955 payroll was $15 million.
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On Dec. 18, 1958, officials announced the Navy Overhaul & Repair facility would be closed down, effective within months. The news shocked everyone from Mayor Farrell Smith to U.S. Rep. John Young, though one worker, on condition of anonymity, said he had heard rumors of an imminent closure for two days before the announcement. Business, civic and labor leaders protested and sent congressional representatives to the Navy to ask they reconsider the decision. But the Navy stood firm.
By the end of December, 1,500 workers were dismissed from their positions, and the remainder of the 2,995 total civilian workers were eliminated by June 1959. Personnel assistant Ray Bostick was the last civil service employee out the door of the 15 acres of O&R buildings. The machinery had long since ceased and more than 5 million pounds of equipment and materials had been shipped to other Navy, Army and Air Force facilities around the country. At 3:45 p.m. on June 30, Bostick received his dismissal papers and headed out.
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Former employees scrambled for new jobs, and many moved from the area to follow more military-adjacent positions. The loss of the $18 million payroll was a blow to the local economy. Immediately, local officials began advocating for a new employer to move into the empty O&R plant. The Army expressed interest in the facility, but was denied by the Department of Defense in late 1960. Then the Eisenhower Administration gave way to the Kennedy Administration in January 1961, and the new secretary of defense had a different view.
On Feb. 22, 1961, U.S. Rep. John Young announced the Dept. of Defense was reopening the O&R, with the Army in charge this time. Dubbed the Army Aeronautical Depot Maintenance Center, ARADMAC for short, the facility would now focus on rotary wing aircraft repairs and overhauls. By March 1, the first six employees were hired and by the end of 1961, 900 civilian employees had been hired, well on its way to replacing the lost O&R.
Allison Ehrlich writes about things to do in South Texas and has a weekly Throwback Thursday column on local history.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Closure of Corpus Christi's O&R Dept. in 1959 dealt hard blow to city
