Historic AU structure to be demolished

For more than six decades it’s towered over Auburn’s University’s landscape, greeting generations of students.

But by the end of this week, it will bid a final farewell when a demolition crew brings the 150-foot smokestack of the Old Physical Plant down.

View Slideshow

“These are the last remaining coal-fired boilers on campus,” said Michael Harris, utilities manager for Auburn University.

The steam plant located on Duncan Drive, was completed back in 1947 by H.L. Holeman in Ozark at a cost of $158,998 and provided hot water for the entire campus at one point in time. The building was later modified to burn both coal and gas and in the 1970s an electronic precipitator was added to remove the coal dust from the air.  For Harris,  the demolition of the landmark smokestack represents both a glimpse into the past as well as a step toward the future progress of AU. “That smokestack was here when I was a student,” said Harris,  who has managed the campus’ utilities for the past 15 years. “We burned a very low-sulfur coal in those boilers, which could take up to 15 people to operate.”

“Now everything’s done pretty much by machine,’ Harris said. And it’s a very unique piece of machinery that will deliver some of the final blows that topple the Terracotta brick tower of the Old Physical Plant.

About three weeks ago, workers with the D.H. Griffin Wrecking Company Inc., began demolishing the site that sits adjacent to the McCartney Terrace building on the AU campus. When the brick smokestack finally does come down, the dirty work will be done by a remote controlled robot called BROKK (http://www.brokk.com), a 9,500-pound demolition device equipped with a 24-inch jaw-like device that as it rotates will slowly crush and pulverize the brick.

The BROKK will do this as it’s suspended more than a hundred feet above the ground by a crane.

Once the 150-foot brick smokestack is trimmed to about 60 feet or so in height, an excavator and other heavy equipment will be used to finish the job, said Dan Baker, project manager for D.H. Griffin Wrecking Company Inc. The coal bunkers of the Old Physical Plant still have several tons of coal in them that will be recycled along with the brick and other materials from the site. While it’s the demolition of the smokestack represents the end of an era to some, for Baker it’s just part of doing his job. “If someone wants a brick or something from the tower, I’ll usually give them one,” said Baker.

Once the Old Physical Plant Building is demolished and cleared away, the site will be used for Phase 2 of the Transportation Technology Building (Shelby Engineering Center). Harris has already collected his share of mementos from the site. “I have a few bricks and some coal from the plant,’ said Harris . “ If the walls of that tower could talk, they’d sure have some stories to tell.”

Stack Facts
- The Old AU Physical Plant’s smokestack was completed in 1947. The first drawings for the building were done in 1946. To see a floor plan of the 1947 building, visit http://www.lib.auburn.edu/arch/buildings/central_stream_plant.htm

- The Old Physical Plant’s smokestack was constructed by Daniel Construction Company of Birmingham.

- The Buildings and Grounds Complex was completed in October 1950.

- Preliminary design was prepared by the AU Department of Buildings and Grounds for H.L. Holman, the architect-of-record.  It was an L-shaped building designed in character to blend with the other buildings in the vicinity.

- Was scheduled to be demolished in 2008 to make room for the Shelby Center for Engineering Technology.

- The Old Physical Plant’s facilities were once used by the Facilities Division, AU Recycling Program and Mail Services.