The Millhaven Fibres Plant opened September 28, 1955 as the third polyester plant in the world. It was originally built to manufacture a new type of synthetic yarn called "Terylene". "Terylene" polyester fibre was invented in England in 1940 and had wide application in the apparel trade and for industrial use. Terylene, like the plant that manufactured it, underwent a name change and in 1966 became Fortrel. The plant at 5275 Bath Road was built on a 70-acre site near Napanee, in Millhaven, Lennox and Addington County, Ontario, on the north shore of Lake Ontario. The project was initiated by Canadian Industries Limited, a wholly owned Canadian subsidiary of Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, of Great Britain. Since then, the plant changed ownership several times and underwent a handful of expansions. Before Invista bought the 75-hectare site on Lake Ontario in 2004, it was owned by ICI of Canada Ltd., Canadian Industries Limited, Millhaven Fibres Ltd., Celanese Canada, Hoechst, and KoSa at various points in its 55-year history. Site history & expansions: 1954 - Plant startup, ICI of Canada Ltd. 1964 - Millhaven Fibres Ltd.. Nylon Filament 1967 - DI & Staple lines started 1968 - Introduced a tire yarn plant. Millhaven invented the polyester tire, which was the fusion of polyester with rubber. 1971 - Plant bought by Chemcell & Fiber Industries. Nylon Filament shutdown 1972 - Chemcell changed name to Celanese Canada 1973 - 1,500 persons employed at Millhaven Fibres 1976 - Second Staple Line built 1983 - Third Staple Line built 1984 - Filament Yarn/Batch Polymer Shutdown 1987 - Hoechst buys Celanese and majority shareholder of Celanese Canada 1989 - Textured Yarn shutdown 1992 - HDI shutdown 1996 - PET Resins built for the production of polyester packaging resins. PET is used to manufacture shatter-resistant plastic bottles for water, soft drinks and medicinal and cleaning products. 2009 - 100 persons employed at Millhave Fibres, Invista plant shut for good 2013 - Explosives destroy the factory during a controlled demolition
