Abandoned Cement Factory

Clifford Alexander Fielding was born August 25, 1915 at his parent(a)s farm in Waters Township. The farm would later be named Fielding Memorial Park, located in Lively. Clifford, one of nine children, was an amateur boxer who along with his brothers became known as one of the "Fighting Fieldings". Both would be inducted into the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame in 1974. Mr. Fielding attended Copper Cliff Public School until he graduated in grade 8.

After Mr. Fielding graduated he joined INCO in 1933 as a car and locomotive repairman. Two years later Mr. Fielding decided to become an entrepreneur by starting his own business named Fielding and Son. The business contracted out transportation services using two horses to haul gravel and ore for Sudbury-area mining companies. The first contract was delivering gravel to the Copper Cliff Community Centre.

In 1943, Fielding expanded into the concrete business and started Wavy Industries which supplied ready-mixed concrete to Sudbury. One of their supply plants was named Mallard Ready-Mix and constructed behind the location of the Flour Mill in Sudbury. Fielding also built a plant and cement handling facility in Copper Cliff. By 1950 Fielding and Son had expanded to include 40 trucks and 50 employees. Fielding then began Fisher Construction in 1958 which produced railway and road ballast.

In 1971, the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce named Clifford as one of Sudbury’s outstanding citizens. The man not only served on many corporate boards but also donated his time and money to local charitable causes.

In 1983 the three business operations were amalgamated into Alexander Centre Industries Limited (ACIL), Alexander being Fielding(a)s middle name.

Clifford Fielding worked right up until the last 15 days of his life. He died on October 18, 2004 from complications due to a back injury. Today the Copper Cliff plant is still in operation while the Flour Mill site has been abandoned for years. Today it hides in an overgrown forest where it is used by transient and homeless persons as well as teenagers looking to party.

Update

In September of 2007 the entire area was torn down due to public outcry about the safety concerns.

Trivia

In the year of 2000, a movie was bieng filmed, entitled "The Hole". Various locations were used during filming, including the Flour Mill site mentioned above.

Article 1 - Ruins in the Wilderness
Article 2 - Councillor vows to clean up area behind Flour Mill
Article 3 - Owner will clean up Flour Mill eyesore