Friends,
Tomorrow, 11/5/2025, promises to be a big day for activities at the site. The last of the silver coating on the Headhouse will be removed. And the Smiley Face atop the 180’ tall Turbo Building is anticipated to come down in the morning.
The environmental cleanup of the structures at the site will be completed this week. Cleanup of remaining asbestos at the site began in March of this year. After more than 8 months of massive efforts, the site is nearly cleared. The manufacturing and warehouse buildings were cleared of all asbestos in July. The removal of the silver coating (with approximately 5% asbestos content) on the silos and Headhouse has been ongoing since March.
Workers are expecting to finish the final area of silver coating on the south wall of the Headhouse tomorrow. Approximately 290,000 square feet of silver coating have been removed, captured, and properly disposed of using approved methods. Air sampling and clearance testing have been performed throughout the process. Thus, safely clearing the way for demolition.
The 10-story Turbo Building with the south facing Smiley Face is anticipated to come down tomorrow. The 200’ crane and 8000-pound wrecking ball will begin swinging at 8:00am and continue throughout the day. The entire building will be pounded down to less than 3-stories by the end of the day. The large track hoes with concrete crunchers and scoops will then finish the job later in the week.
The last 6 weeks of demolition have been productive. The 160’ Smokestack came down in mid-September. The 96,000 sq. ft. 5-story Grocery Building came next. Then, the 24,000 sq. ft. 9-story Bulk Storage building came down.
Thanks for being a part of this important community project!
~ Team Pillsbury
