Imerys Marble sold for $1.3m

GOUVERNEUR — Imerys Marble has sold its white marble operation to a Pennsylvania company that has been a longtime customer of the plant.

"We're going to operate, at present, the way it is," said David G. Kasmoch, president of Gardenscape, Eau Claire, Pa. "We plan on growing the business."

The purchase for $1,367,916 from Imerys, Roswell, Ga., to Gardenscape was filed Monday in the St. Lawrence County Clerk's Office. Gardenscape is a family-owned lawn and garden supplier for the wholesale market.

A spokesman for Imerys did not return a phone call for comment, but a company news release states Imerys will continue to offer agricultural products, including marble chips, in the Southeastern and Southwestern United States.

The Gouverneur operation, which has about 25 full- and part-time employees, produces white marble chips and lime.

"We bought the plant to make it better and plan to add some improvements," Mr. Kasmoch said. "We've been buying from that plant since it was Georgia Marble."

The quarry was among a network of marble veins once in production that helped give Gouverneur its nickname of the Marble City.

"If memory serves me right, there were 11 marble quarries, including nine in the village limits," village Historian Joseph D. Laurenza said. "Gouverneur marble went all over the place. It was very sought after because it was durable and kept its color."

The operation on Seavey Road was appropriately known as the White Marble Co., Mr. Laurenza said.

All of the quarries were idled by the late 1940s, probably because less expensive materials were used for sidewalks and foundations. All but the white marble quarry were eventually filled in with water.

"At some point, someone realized you could break this stuff up," Mr. Laurenza said.

North Country Aggregates started working the white marble in the late 1970s. North Country Aggregates was purchased by Basins Inc., a division of Georgia Marble, which became part of Imerys.

Some of Gouverneur's marble remains in isolated sections on its streets as sidewalks, but it was not the best use of the material.

"They're a pain because they're so slippery in the winter or when they're wet," Mr. Laurenza said.