Demolition of Island Station set for Sunday

The same team thats razing the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis is preparing for another noteworthy project on the other side of the Mississippi River: demolition of the Island Station power plant.

At 10 a.m. Sunday, Little Canada-based Frattalone Cos. and Idaho-based Advanced Explosives Demolition will implode the iconic smokestack atop the structure along the Mississippi River at 380 Randolph St. in St. Paul.

The long-vacant, nearly century-old coal-burning plant is coming down to make way for unspecified new development.

Frattalone in February obtained a demolition permit for the project, which will be done in multiple phases. The permit, which estimates the value of the work at $150,000, is good for 180 days, according to Robert Humphrey, a spokesman for the St. Paul Department of Safety & Inspections.

All work, including debris removal, is expected to wrap up by late spring, Humphrey said.

In January Frattalone enlisted Advanced Explosives Demolition to implode the ring beam at the Metrodome, which is being torn down to make way for the new $975 million Vikings stadium.

Frattalone is leading the Metrodome demolition, a project thats about 60 percent complete and on schedule for completion in April.

Unlike the Metrodome, which is being demolished with a combination of high-reach excavators, wrecking balls, and limited use of dynamite, Island Station and its smoke stack will be toppled primarily by explosives.

Though it could be chipped down or leveled with construction equipment, the building is a good candidate for implosion, according to national demolition consultant Herb Duane.

Its an old power plant on the river there; you just drop it and clean it up, said Duane, president of the Duane Corp., a New England-based demolition firm. Its a straightforward power plant demolition.

Read the rest here:
Demolition of Island Station set for Sunday