HOLYOKE — In a flash, a boom, and a cloud of dust, the Mt. Tom power plant smokestack, the 370 foot tall structure that dominated the skyline around the Oxbow for 60 years, ceased the be.
The smokestack, all the remained of the 60-year-old plant, was dropped to the ground in a controlled explosion by Controlled Demolition Incorporated, a Maryland company specializing in razing tall structures.
With an explosives planted around the base of the smokestack, the detonation went off minutes after 1 p.m. The smokestack lurched slightly and then toppled over toward the southeast into the portion of the lot where the power plant’s coal reserves used to be stored. It immediate area was immediately covered in a cloud of red dust.
Julie Vitek, vice president of communications for ENGIE, owners of the property, said that if all went well, the tower would slowly topple to the ground in under 30 seconds. All went well.
ENGIE has purchased the property and has installed a 6 megawatt solar farm and 3 megawatts of storage capacity.
She said it is not clear what will happen at the site. The plan is to clean up the debris from the smokestack and then remediate the site. It’s possible they could further develop the site, but there are no plans yet.
Holyoke police briefly blocked nearby Route 5 to traffic, but Interstate 91 was remained open.
Dozens of boats camped out on the Connecticut River to watch the smoke stack fall.
The power plant, constructed in 1960, was razed in November, leaving just the smokestack behind.
At 370 feet, the smokestack was taller than the Campanile in downtown Springfield (300 feet) and the Du Bois Library at the University of Massachusetts (286 feet)
The Mount Tom power plant was constructed in 1960. It closed in December 2014.
The plant itself was demolished in November and it’s rubble removed, leaving the 300-foot stack standing alone in an empty parcel.
Anyone who as ever traveled up or down Interstate 91 has seen the smokestack rising high above the treeline and appearing to slide across the horizon with each twist and turn of the highway.
When the power plant opened in 1960 at Smith’s Ferry, it was designed to provide up to 137,000 kilowatts of power. Go generate the steam power to move the turbines that would produce electricity, the plant burned coal - some 20 railroad cars of it per day.
Coal would be hauled in by train car on the nearby tracks. Water for the steam would come from the Connecticut River.
The plant cost $27.5 million in 1960 dollars. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $237.9 million in 2019 dollars.
Before the plant was dedicated in September, 1960, some 14,000 people toured it as part of a week-long open house.
It 1960, it was cutting edge technology. Within 20 years, it was considered a major source of air pollution, forcing the owners to install equipment to remove particles from the exhaust.
State officials also criticized the amount of ash that was being disposed of on the property and it’s potential to leak into the Connecticut River. The plant was required in the early 1980s to remove it from the site.