The mood was somber among many people in Ravenswood after getting word the Century Aluminum plant is closing shop.

We spoke with soon to be former employees of the plant who tell us all they can do now is hope for the best.

"I got a phone call from a friend on my way out of the gate and he said they said they were shutting the place down" says Josh Hupp, an employee of Century Aluminum.

He is among 651 workers who will be out of work. The news doesn't come as a complete shock; in December, the company had idled a production line and warned the plant could close in February.

State Legislators and company management tried to find ways to save the plant but in the end nothing was viable and the price of Aluminum was just way too low.

"It's devastating" Hupp says. The news comes at a bad time for the Hupp family. Josh's wife is trying to get through school, and there are still all those medical bills that piled up when his 12-year-old boy got sick. Hupp says his son had a kidney transplant approximately 5 years ago.

Workers say now all they can hope for is that the economy turns around and the plant reopens in the meantime, Hupp will lean on his family and faith.

The plant closes February 20th.