Even as some of its former inhabitants are now building tires as replacement workers, the closed Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. tire plant in Albany, Ga., is now being torn down.

Demolition work began at the plant site this week. The plant, which was closed more than two years ago, was sold to Hilco Real Estate last fall for an estimated $8.5 million.

Hilco leases part of the building back to Cooper for a distribution center. The rest of the facility is being torn down to make the land more marketable, Hilco said.

Cooper locked out union workers at its Findlay, Ohio, plant in late November, and has hired former Albany workers as temporary staff to man that plant and maintain at least some production.