GALENA, Ill. — A major Galena employer soon will close, eliminating 50 jobs, according to a U.S. lawmaker. 

U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., today hand-delivered a letter to officials at Honeywell, an international manufacturer in the realms of aerospace and industry, asking for more information about the planned closure of the company’s Galena facility. 

“Your plan to close the Honeywell facility in Galena, Ill., is concerning,” Bustos wrote in the letter, addressed to Honeywell Chairman and CEO Darius Adamczyk. “I urge you to reconsider the importance of this facility to the region and seek ways to keep these jobs in teh Galena area.A” 

The letter noted Honeywell has been in the Galena community for 45 years. The closure would cut the jobs of “50 men and women in an area that has already suffered greatly during the last decade,” Bustos wrote. 

“While I appreciate that additional positions may be created within other production lines in Freeport, Ill., I have concerns that losing these jobs in Galena will have a negative impact on this community,” she wrote. 

The letter also states the closure “came as a surprise to local stakeholders, many of whom have been working with or for the company for decades.” Bustos requested an explanation for the closure, a clear outline of where production and jobs are being transferred and a “commitment to keeping the employees and the community fully apprised of your plans moving forward.”

An attempt to reach a Honeywell official for additional information wasn’t immediately successful. A call to the Galena facility this evening rang unanswered.