How the Tour Will Run

Last week was Part 1 in a five part series on Fords recently revitalized Rouge plant. This week the story continues, with details regarding how the facilitys tour will run.

Visitors will buy tickets at The Henry Ford, near the intersection of Village Road and the Southfield Freeway, some four miles from the Rouge factory complex, board video equipped motor coaches and ride to a visitors center built just outside the Dearborn Truck Plant. Visitors cannot join the tour by driving to the factory complex themselves.

"Once inside the visitors center, they will step inside theater one, called the Legacy Theater, where they will view a short film chronicling the legend and the legacy of the Rouge over time, giving actual historical photos and film footage from our collection," Hamp said. "In theater two will be the Art of Manufacturing. Seven large screens will surround the viewer with the sights, the sounds, and the sensations of the manufacturing experience."

The legacy theater documents the

Inside the visitors center there are two large theaters showcasing the history of the Rouge and the Art of Manufacturing. (Photo: Ford Motor Company)

The legacy film then tells the story of Fords idea to create a vast factory complex for the purposes of vertical integration--where Ford

The legacy theater documents how Ford revolutionized the industry by the creation of mass production with the continuous moving assembly line. (Photo: Ford Motor Company)

The film continues on to tell about the devastating effects of the Great Depression on Ford, the auto industry and workers. Then it delves into the fight to prevent labor organizers from unionizing Ford with a look at the infamous Battle of the Overpass in 1937. This incident is where Ford "service department" goons pummeled union organizers, including future UAW President Walter Reuther, on top of the Gate 4 pedestrian bridge over Miller Road.

The Battle of the Overpass, captured in a series of pictures that ran in the worlds newspapers,

The legacy film then tells the story of Fords idea to create a vast factory complex for the purposes of vertical integration, which became the Rouge. (Photo: Ford Motor Company)

The legacy film also tells the story of the Rouge as part of the "Arsenal of Democracy" during the Second World War and some of its history beyond.

In theater two, the "Art of Manufacturing" offers a true multi-sensory experience. Visitors sit in chairs that can swivel a full 360 degrees as they are bombarded by the images of steel being made to cars being built. They will feel heat thrown off by multi-wattage light bulbs, simulating the heat of molten steel being poured into molds, scents of new metal, and even mist falling down from the ceiling.

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