MORAINE, Ohio - After months of projecting and planning, the day finally arrived Tuesday when the GM Assembly Plant closed its doors and ceased production.

The final SUV rolled off the assembly line mid-afternoon Dec. 23, a white GMC Envoy, and workers began exiting the plant for the final time. The plant's paint and body shops had already been cleared out at the end of last week.

In all, 1,100 people were laid off by the plant's closing. Signs pointing towards the end began in 2006, when GM eliminated third-shift workers from the plant and refused to grant the plant a new production line.

Without the new line, the plant would not have remained open beyond 2010. In June, GM finally announced that the Moraine plant would cease operations by the end of the calendar year.

Moraine officials are now looking at ways to recover the lost income from the plant's closing. A little more than 20 percent of the city's revenue comes from the plant and its workers.

The city is examining the possibility of bringing in a new business that could utilize the building. Without it, the biggest effect will be to Kettering's School System because of the property devaluation and the physical location of the plant.

Meanwhile union leaders are looking at ways to help out families affected by the close. Workers from the plant are scattered all over the Miami Valley.

During the height of production, nearly 4,000 cars, trucks, and SUV's rolled off the line daily.