Demolition of Taylor Street steam plant begins
UPDATED: Jan. 31, 2011
Demolition crews began taking down the Project Orange steam plant last week, marking the beginning of the end for the controversial project that provided steam heat to Syracuse University from the early ‘90s until 2009.
Officials from Sessler Wrecking Inc. picked up a demolition permit Tuesday to take down the plant, which could take up to two months, said Mike Bova, director of Syracuse’s Code Enforcement.
‘It’ll probably all be due to weather, and there could be some other factors on how exactly long this is going to take,’ Bova said.
By Thursday afternoon, construction crews had taken down one of the steam plant’s smokestacks, and by Friday the other smokestack was being taken down. Welders disassembled the stacks, and then a crane moved the base of the stack to the ground.
Heinrich Kirschner, facility manager for Project Orange Associates, refused to comment on demolition details.
Project Orange, located on Taylor Street and visible from University Avenue on campus, cut off steam supply to SU in October 2009 because of disagreements about faulty turbines and steam production costs, according to an article published in The Daily Orange on Oct. 21, 2009. In an agreement made with SU in 1990, Project Orange provided the university with a discount of 33 percent on steam purchases above a specific quantity, according to the article.
SU now relies on steam boilers that are at least 50 years old to power the university, the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and three surrounding hospitals that purchase steam from SU, according to the article.
Project Orange previously filed a request to seize the steam plant and pipes, which were owned by SU, but a New York state appeals court denied the request in March, which meant the plant would remain under university control, according to an article published in The Daily Orange on March 23.
SU officials were not able to provide any updates to The Daily Orange.
Nearby residents and employers went on with daily life last week as the steam plant that dotted the Syracuse skyline for years came down.
‘I don’t think I’m going to miss it,’ said Charlene Graves, 50, who has lived on McBride Street for three years and can look out her front window and see the steam plant.
The Project Orange steam plant demolition has not done much to disrupt the day-to-day activities at the Wilson Park Community Center, said Barbara Grimes, director of the center who has worked there for 30 years. The center and its playground sit across the street from the steam plant.
‘It’s like when you make tea,’ Grimes said to describe the whistling or popping sound she would occasionally hear from the plant.
The noise would generally last a few seconds or minutes, she said, and was the only reminder for her of the steam plant. The last time she remembered hearing it was in September.
‘It’s just there,’ Grimes said. ‘It’s always just been there.’
Published on January 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm
