Workers were housed on site in apartment blocks. The first of these, as well as an apprentices' school, appeared in 1949-1952. A new neighborhood of blocks for workers began to be built in 1959 on the sloping right bank of the Strei, in the vicinity of the Streisângeorgiu Church. In 1961, due to its economic importance, Călan commune was declared a town. In 1930, the population numbered 6801; this had risen to 14,738 by 1992. A prominent player in the Romanian steel industry, the works produced gray iron, coke, coal, tar and castings, including stoves and radiators. By the 1980s, the complex employed some 8000 individuals from the town and its surroundings. Rapid development under communism gave way after the 1989 Revolution to a slow disintegration.