NEW OPERATORS WILL REOPEN AREA QUARRY

SCOTT CITY -- Westlake Quarry will reopen soon under a new operator.

A spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis said Thursday the diocese has signed a lease operating agreement with Tower Rock Stone Co. of Ste. Genevieve to operate the limestone rock quarry at Grays Point alongside the Mississippi River.

The quarry was formerly operated by Westlake Quarry, which is owned by the archdiocese and several other Catholic charities. The Grays Point quarry was closed in late March.

Archdiocese spokesman Vince Jones said Thursday an agreement was reached earlier this month with Tower Rock Stone Co.

"The deal was closed April 23," said Jones. He emphasized the diocese is not selling its quarry to Tower Rock Stone. "Westlake Quarry will continue to own the property at Grays Point," Jones explained. "Tower Rock Stone Co. will operate the quarry."

Terms and length of the operating agreement were not disclosed.

Jones said other Westlake Quarry properties at Neelys Landing, in St. Louis and Jefferson counties are not affected by the operating agreement at the Grays Point quarry. He said the other quarries will continue to be operated by Westlake until similar lease agreements are signed with firms that may be interested in operating the properties.

Meanwhile, the new Grays Point Tower Rock Stone quarry manager, Jim Whelan, was in Cape Girardeau Thursday to conduct new employee interviews at the Holiday Inn.

An ad in the classified section of Wednesday's Southeast Missourian said Tower Rock Stone plans to hire "a limited number of qualified individuals to work in its new quarry facility near Scott City, Mo."

Whelan declined to say how many employees would be hired. When the quarry at Grays Point was closed in late March, approximately 52 persons, many of them Scott City residents, lost their jobs.

The classified ad said Tower Rock will pay wages and benefits the same as or equivalent to those paid at its quarry along the Mississippi River at Ste. Genevieve. Following a probationary period, the ad says wages will range from $10.15-1$10.65 per hour, depending on the job worked.

The ad also stated, "All employees shall be required to perform all duties within the quarry.

Since 1987, the Grays Point quarry has been involved in several labor disputes that resulted in strikes. The last strike was in 1990.

Whelan was unable to say when the quarry will reopen. "It's hard to say. There's a lot of work to be done down there before we can get everything geared up to reopen," he said. Whelan said over 100 people came in for job interviews on Thursday.

Earlier this month the St. Louis Archdiocese and Luhr Brothers of Columbia, Ill., were discussing a possible lease agreement for the Grays Point quarry. Contacted Thursday at his office in Columbia, Art Boss, secretary-treasurer of Luhr Brothers, said the firm was only interested in the Grays Point quarry, and has no interest in operating any of the other Westlake quarries.