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Catalyst donation motors along on Alberni

Catalyst Paper Corp. donated surplus 1963 air compressor to the Industrial Heritage Society.
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Catalyst and IHS officials display a 1963 air compressor that the paper corp donated to the heritage society.

Catalyst Paper Corp. has donated a working piece of its history to the Industrial Heritage Society.

Officials from the local mill donated a 1963 air compressor to the IHS to replace one that failed last week.

“A new one like this would cost us between $1,300 to $1,500,” mill manager Fred Chinn said.

“This is a way of giving back to the community.”

The compressor will be used at the IHS repair facility at the roundhouse just off of Third Avenue.

“We’ll use it to run the air tools in the repair shop,” said IHS official Ted Mollet, a retired Catalyst employee who accepted the donation at the mill Tuesday morning.

The compressor was collecting dust on a shelf with other parts in the mill’s spares inventory, Chinn said.

“We had enough that we could spare it out as a donation,” Chinn said.

The piece may eventually have been used for a fan at the mill but was given to the IHS instead, he added.

Catalyst electrician Fred Bucham dusted the compressor off and tested it before it was donated.

“This is so old that it only has three numbers on its plate,” Bucham said. “But those old ones are heavier and better than the new ones.”

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