Witness

I am standing on a big empty lot on the northeast corner of Broadway and Dobson in Mesa, Arizona. This sign and cactus is all that remains of what used to be one of Motorola's largest semiconductor fabs in the Valley of the Sun. The now-empty lot stretches behind me for a long distance. Before its demolition, the site stretched across more than a block, and employed thousands of people. Seven days a week, for multiple shifts per day, Motorolans proudly cranked out semiconductors in one of several fabs (both bipolar and MOS) in the complex.

For the past several months, the city of Mesa has had to watch bulldozers, cranes, and wrecking crews demolish an industrial complex that was once one of its largest employers. The entire complex was flattened, leaving nothing but dirt. Behind me, a series of cheap tilt-up buildings are already being erected. This sign and cactus are the sole survivors of the demolition. The sign reads "Credit Union Drive Up Service Only" - a holdover from when the Motorola Employee's Credit Union (now TruWest - there just aren't that many Motorolans left) once stood there.