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" (known as "Dacron" in the United States). "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 (1954) Limited, a wholly owned Canadian subsidiary of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) 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. (CIL)
1964 - Millhaven Fibres Ltd. (J.V. w/ Chemcell & CIL). 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 (polyethylene terephthalate - PET). 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