A hockey legend's hometown pins renewal hopes on $500-million mega-complex

BY GREG MCMILLAN
Special to The Globe and Mail

BRANTFORD, ONT. -- Memories die hard, especially in Brantford, where residents still talk about the devastating economic hit that occurred two decades ago with the loss of three major employers and the thousands of jobs that went with them.

Plant closings of Massey-Ferguson, Harding Carpet and White Farm Equipment threw the city into a nightmarish tailspin, but plans for a $500-million commercial and industrial mega-complex are making locals forget all the woes of the past.

Indeed, this city 100 kilometres west of Toronto has been buzzing since Brantford's King & Benton Development Corp. unveiled the proposed development, which will include an industrial park and retail power centre located on a 427-acre parcel of land at Highway 403 and Oak Park Road. The industrial component of the site covers about 300 acres.