of conditions. During World War II, the Chrysler Corporation leased the entire Proving Grounds to test tanks and other armored vehicles, and constructed a new building on the site that was capable of servicing tanks. Packard operated the Proving Grounds until August 15, 1956, when the dire financial condition of the Studebaker-Packard Corporation forced it to consolidate all operations at Studebaker's South Bend, Indiana facilities. That same summer, Studebaker-Packard entered into a management agreement with the Curtiss-Wright Corporation in a last-ditch attempt to avoid bankruptcy. Studebaker-Packard would receive enough funding to continue with a 1957 product program, and in exchange Curtiss-Wright would receive a tax write-off as well as all of Studebaker-Packard's defense contract business. Curtiss-Wright retained possession of the Packard Proving Grounds after the management agreement with Studebaker –Packard ended in 1959, as C-W was using Packard's former engine and transmission plant (located on the northwest corner of the Proving Grounds property) to manufacture jet aircraft engines. Curtiss-Wright sold the property to the Ford Motor Company in 1961. Ford used the former engine plant to manufacture automotive interior trim, and at various times used the lodge and engineering buildings to make small service runs of prior model year trim parts. Ford also used the test track for early emission control testing, saving its main test track in nearby Romeo, Michigan for higher-priority testing. By 1998, most of the Ford Motor Company's surplus land holdings were turned over to an internal unit called Ford Motor Land Development Corporation. With the growth through the years of the surrounding Shelby Township and Utica communities, Ford Land decided to make the excess property at the former Packard Proving Grounds available for development. The first proposal they entertained was for a U.S. Postal Service distribution center to be located along 23 Mile Road at the north end of the Proving Grounds site. Eventually, the intention was to level the original Packard buildings so that the entire site could be marketed. Although Ford Motor had been a good employer and a good corporate citizen of the area, Ford Land's initiatives were met with some resistance on several fronts. Some residents objected to the noise, traffic, and light pollution that they felt a USPS distribution center would bring. Others decried the loss of a great amount of wildlife habitat. Historians and old car enthusiasts opposed the loss of a significant automotive landmark. Ford Land applied for