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Show U.S. Steel Will Begin Operatian Of Geneva Big Industrial Expansion Predicted For This Vicinity; FHA To Begin Building New Homes In Utah County To Meet Demand The war assets administration and the U. S. Steel Corp. are losing no lime making arrangements to put the Geneva steel plant Lack into production. Officials of the steel com- pany met informally Tuesday with V. A. A., discussed the program ahead, and all were in agreement that everything should be done to expedite the signing of the contact con-tact so the new owner may start the mill rolling, and make preparations prepa-rations for the installation of such new machinery as will be needed to meet the demands of peacetime production. The U. S. Steel Corp., it is learned, has its plans pretty well developed; it knows the program it intends to follow. Insofar as market demands justify, they probably pro-bably will resume manufacturing of steel plate, which while a drug on the Pacific coast market right now, is in heavy demand abroad. Two consignments of 4Q,000 tons each of surplus plate recently were shipped from the Pacific coast to Italy and the Netherlands. . Commenting on the time that work at Geneva will get under way, Dr. Walther Mathesius, president pres-ident of Geneva, said this week: "The plate mills could be started start-ed in 30 days and production of ingot steel from the open hearths could be underway in 60 days, if conditions justified it." While turning out steel plate with the equipment now in place, U .S. Steel, as the first step, after af-ter the signing of the contract, will place orders for new. machinery machin-ery and equipment and meantime will employ a substantial force getting the buildings ready to receive re-ceive this new equipment when delivered. de-livered. ... War assets is very confident that as soon as the contract is signed there will be a surprising resumption of activity at Geneva, employing a great number of men, some as operatives, others on reconversion. re-conversion. No details of the plans of U. S. Steel are yet available. The actual signing of the contract between U. S. Steel Corp and the war assets administration probably prob-ably will take place in Salt Lake City. With announcement of the successful suc-cessful bidding of U. S. Steel on Geneva, housing began a boom in Utah county this week, it was reported. According to Gordon Wegge-land, Wegge-land, state director for Utah, Federal Fed-eral Housing Administration, his office had anticipated a housing boom with the announcement of the sale of Geneva and estimated today that at least 550 new units will be needed for immediate occupancy oc-cupancy throughout the "steel area." Priorities Available . . . "But the best part of the housing hous-ing outlook in the Geneva area is the fact that priorities are available avail-able and financing through local banks assured," Mr. Weggeland pointed out. The 550 new housing units will be built under Title Six, FHA. The thousands of homes built' (Continued on Page Eight) GENEVA STEEL (Continued from page one) by the government in Utah Co. during the war, when a serious housing shortage was seen when Geneva was being built and operating oper-ating .at full capacity, are now occupied, oc-cupied, Mr. Weggeland said. All Houses Sold . . "Every house built by FHA in Utah county has been sold. The new housing problem will need immediate attention, as hundreds of families were awaiting only for the sale of Geneva to move in on the area. We are ready to issue commitments on 550 new homes immediately," Mr. Weggeland stated. Mr. Weggeland said that the majority of the housing units will be of a better class than, those built during the emergency for immediate occupancy. He estimated estimat-ed that the price range would come in the $7,000 to $10,000 class The state director related that 25 new units would be built at Lehi, 50 at American Fork, 25 at Pleasant Grove, 25 at Orem, 300 in Provo, 50 in Spanish Fork, 50 in Spingville and 25 in Payson. |