Attebury Grain Elevator shut its doors on Friday, May 21. A note on the door simply said, “For assistance, Call this number” with a phone number.

Attebury purchased what was formerly Goodpasture Grain Elevator from the Goodpasture family in 2003 and has operated it since then.

A spokesman for Attebury stated there were a few factors that went into this decision. “Those elevators are so old and need so much repair to be useable. We made the decision that it was just not economically feasible for us to do needed repairs at this time, given the climate of the market right now. With what is going on in commodity markets in our nation and our world, spending the money to bring these elevators up to what we need the to be just is not in the cards, at this time.”

The current market was a major player in the decision to close this plant and two others. “It is just hard to know where it is going,” TownTalk Media was told.

Attebury will continue to man the Lubbock site. For the manager and the five employees there, this means an opportunity to continue working for the company. “Attebury offered the employees a severance package or the opportunity to keep working for Attebury in Lubbock. I am not sure yet what they have chosen to do,” the spokesman told TownTalk Media.

Goodpasture Grain first opened in Brownfield in 1940 with a small wooden elevator. The tall concrete elevator was added in 1946, with tubes added in 1948, and completed in 1950. So the newest of those “tubes” is a mere 72 years old. Grady Goodpasture was the brainchild behind the grain elevator.

An explosion rocked the Goodpasture Elevator in July of 1960, blowing away two tubes of the plant and killing six people. A story old-timers from Brownfield still remember vividly.

Attebury has no known plans to attempt to sell the site. “The plans are to hopefully make the needed upgrades in the future and reopen in Brownfield,” stated the spokesman.

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