April 20, 2001 — GRESHAM, OR — DuPont Photomasks is selling its Gresham-based holdings, including a multi-million factory the company never even used.

This week, the Texas-based company said the move is part of a company-wide reorganization. Officials say they expect to lose just under $12 million – the difference between the original cost of construction and its fair market value today, according to a report in the Oregonian.

“I think it’s a disappointment to the whole company, but things change so rapidly in this business,” Bud Caverly, operations manager for the Pacific Northwest was quoted as saying in the paper. “I view this in the long term to be beneficial for our region. It’s better to have someone doing something here than have it sitting here empty.”

The Gresham facility includes a large cleanroom area with basic filtration and temperature control, offices and a central plant. The company planned to add formal cleanroom walls and more filter systems.

Construction on the plant began in 1997, but an industry recession mothballed construction late in 1998. Since then, the industry has shifted to smaller chips that are more costly and time consuming to make.

Company officials said they plan to meet soon to determine how best to attract another company, particularly from the microelectronic biotechnology fields.