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Cold Spring Granite Foundry Marks Completion of Country's Most Advanced Bronze Memorial Plant

Dec. 4, 2002

COLD SPRING, Minn. - The completion of the most advanced bronze foundry in the country by the Cold Spring Granite Co. signals a major step by the firm to become a dominant manufacturer of bronze and granite memorial products in the United States. This multi-million dollar second-phase foundry brings Cold Spring Granite's entire bronze manufacturing process - from casting, finishing, inspection and shipping - under one roof near the firm's headquarters in Cold Spring, Minn.

The 36,000 square foot foundry is located next to a 25,000 square foot finishing plant that was completed in 1998. Taken together, the 61,000 square foot complex will become the most advanced bronze memorial manufacturing facility in the country. "The whole facility will significantly boost our ability to provide a wider variety of products, meet the varied needs of customers and speed up delivery," says John Mattke, vice president and general manager of the Cold Spring Granite Memorial Group.

The foundry has the capacity to triple Cold Spring Granite's daily output of flat bronze markers, cast bronze bases, emblems, mausoleum crypt and niche plaques, signage and other bronze products.

With a new crane system and floor molding operation, the foundry can cast massive pieces weighing 1,200 pounds or more, including seals or medallions up to eight feet in diameter, or intricate bronze latticework and delicate designs for statues and mausoleums. A proprietary personalization process can produce individual signatures and artwork engraved on memorials and two-dimensional emblems.

"All of the machinery and handling equipment in the foundry and finishing plant were designed specifically for Cold Spring Granite," says Mattke. "Our goal was to create an environment where employees would feel safe that produced the highest-quality products with less raw materials and power than before."

The foundry is expected to have a significant impact on the bronze memorial products market. Cold Spring Granite is already one of the world's largest granite quarriers and manufacturers of granite and bronze memorial products. Although it commands a significant market share in both the granite and bronze memorial markets, Cold Spring Granite's presence has been felt more strongly and for a much longer period of time on the granite side of the business. The company has a history of family ownership for over 100 years and has worked on the country's most famous memorials, including the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and the National World War II Memorial currently under construction.

The foundry also rounds out a period of aggressive capital investment projects to expand memorialization production by Cold Spring Granite that began in 1997 when the firm's 130,000 square foot $10 million monumental plant was completed. The firm has also developed exclusive distribution agreements with leading granite and bronze producers in India and Europe to offer the fullest line of memorial products available in North America.

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The Cold Spring Granite Co. is a leading manufacturer, designer and distributor of granite and bronze products. The Cold Spring Granite Memorial Group offers the broadest line of memorial products, including upright monuments, flat markers, cast bronze and granite bases, urns, columbaria, community and family mausoleums, benches, and specialty cemetery features. For more information, visit www.coldspringgranite.com.