The Glen-Gery Brick factory in Marseilles is rarely open for tours.

But those curious about what goes on in the huge plant at the east end of Broadway Street can get a look if they receive the Discovery channel on cable television.

The "Factory Made" show airing at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, will feature the Glen-Gery Brick plant in operation.

Filming was done last May of the process of making bricks from the dirt mix to the final packaged product, Distribution Manager Kim Rardin told The Times.

The plant was built as Marseilles Brick in 1989 and started cranking out bricks in 1990. On Jan. 1, 2002, it became one of the nine brick plants of the Glen-Gery Corporation.

"Every plant makes a little bit different product. We all make different colors and sizes. At our plant we make five different sizes and a number of different colors for both residential and commercial use," Rardin said.

When operating at full capacity with its 78-person staff, the plant's two automated kilns can produce the equivalent of 110 million bricks a year that are shipped between the East Coast and west to Texas and Nebraska. Currently, due to less brick demand from builders, only one kiln is operating with a staff of 40 workers.

Typically, the only visitors the plant gets are clients and apprentice masons.

"We've had a couple of school tours, but it's been a long time since we've done one," Rardin said.

Rardin said plant employees, many of whom are local residents, are pleased the show will air. It's an opportunity for them to be able to show family members and friends where they work and what they do, she said.

"I think it's going to be a little bit of a pat on the back for all of us."