290 pounds of dynamite couldn’t bring 60-year-old structure down
By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
LIMESTONE — The Central Heating Plant at the former Loring Air Force Base is still scheduled to come down, even though the structure has defied the gravitational impulses implosion officials thought 290 pounds of dynamite would provide.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
The smokestack-toppling implosion was off to a good start, with dust pouring from the facility as exterior walls were ripped away on Aug. 6. Approximately 300 spectators came from all over Maine and New Brunswick to witness the demolition of the historic building.
Hundreds of spectators gathered at the former base, now called the Loring Commerce Centre, to watch the iconic Central Heating Plant meet its end on Aug. 6. Approximately 1,200 feet from the facility, 300 synchronized crowd members excitedly counted down like a New Year’s celebration, led by an official of New York-based Precision Explosives (PE), which orchestrated the implosion.
“Three, two, one…” and a pause in anticipation of that inevitable boom.
Explosives thundered, dust and debris billowed out from behind caving wall and the iconic smokestacks seemed to fall in slow motion. Yelps and hollers were emitted from the crowd and gray clouds engulfed the building.
But the enthusiastic cheers were quieted once the swirling dust dissipated; spectators and officials alike donned quizzical expressions as their eyes beheld the building, almost fully erect with two of five smokestacks still standing.
“We were as surprised as anyone that the building didn’t totally fall as expected, but we are already back on the job and [the demolition of the Central Heat Plant] will be completed within a few days,” said Steve Milley, founder, president and owner of Engineered Products Co., Inc. of Portland (EP), the company hired to demolish the heating plant.
Engineered Products officials subcontracted with Precision Explosives to implode the facility.
Speculation has abound as to why the implosion yielded less than intended results — but an official explanation from PE President and Owner Dave Evans was unavailable as of presstime.
EP Operations Manager and Marketing Coordinator Jennifer Gregor explained that the official word regarding the implosion’s results would have to come from PE, though she speculated it may have been a miscalculation.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
As the smoke cleared from the implosion efforts on Aug. 6, spectators and officials alike were surprised to find the Central Heating Plant still standing — two smokestacks were still holding fast and some of the glass windows hadn’t even broken.
“Everybody was completely surprised and shocked that they didn’t level [the facility],” said Hayes Gahagan, project manager of Loring Bio Energy, LLC. “The building was built strong to last long; it’s 95 percent steel and there are 5,000 tons of steel for the salvage company to recover and recycle.”
Gahagan also mentioned that the fact that PE may have underestimated the strength of the facility hasn’t caused a significant delay to the project, rather “one step turned into two — it doesn’t affect our business plan or our schedule,” he said.
Gregor stated that the consensus of the on-lookers was that, even though the building didn’t completely fall, the event was exciting, and they fully supported any energy-related development using private funding.
The former heating plant is owned by Loring Bio Energy, LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Loring Holdings, LLC — Gahagan and Associates, LLC and the Shaw Group are owners of Loring Holdings, LLC.
“The demolition is occurring now, and once that site is cleaned up we can then begin to complete designs and preparation for further energy infrastructure development that’s designed to connect northern Maine with the New England power market,” Gahagan explained.
Officials have estimated that it may take nine to 12 weeks to remove everything but the concrete pad from the site, which may or may not need to be replaced in order to proceed with development endeavors.
“We’ll know when we get there,” Gahagan said.
While some in the community would have like to seen the iconic structure from the Air Force days preserved, the decision to demolish the building didn’t happen overnight. But the current cost of salvaged steel made demolition feasible.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
For over 60 years, the smokestacks of the Central Heating Plant of the former Loring Air Force Base made the skyline of Limestone, and they stood as straight as the day they were built on Aug. 5.
“Over the last three years, when we considered rehabilitation or demolition, [demolition] ranged from costing us $600,000 to [yielding] a positive $600,000,” Gahagan said.
The current price of salvaged steel means that the demolition won’t end up costing LBE any money and Gahagan anticipates that any proceeds will be moved right into ongoing development expenses — which could be huge.
LBE aims to create a privately funded merchant-transmission line that could provide a means to connect northern Maine produced energy to New England’s power grid.
A similar proposed project downstate has been estimated to come with a $2 billion pricetag, according to Gahagan.
But before future developments can be made at the Loring location, the former heating plant needed to come down.
All-in-all, Gahagan’s thoughts on the project are very positive.
“I wanted to be sure to thank the LDA staff, the Limestone Fire Department and the Limestone Police Department for their professionalism and concern for public safety,” he said.
Loring Bio Energy, LLC officially gained control of the former heating plant during a real estate transaction about a year ago, according to President and CEO of the Loring Development Authority Carl Flora. Before that, the LDA had a long standing pending arrangement with LBE that dates back to the early 2000s.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
What a difference a day makes — especially when there’s 290 pounds of dynamite involved. While the attempted implosion of the former heating plant on Aug. 6 definitely made a dent in the Central Heating Plant at the former base, the building and two of its smokestacks remained standing.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Three days after 290 pounds of dynamite shook the ground during an attempted implosion of the heating plant at Loring, a little more of the building may be down, but the structure was by no means out as of mid-morning Tuesday.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Long way down, but not quite there — demolition crews worked on Tuesday mid-morning to take the heating plant down piece by piece.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Just minutes after the implosion produced less than structure-crumbling results, officials with Precision Explosives of New York took to the scene to find out specifically what went wrong as they made their way toward the downed smokestacks, formerly iconic staples of the Limestone skyline.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
A pair of demolition officials went in for a closer look on Tuesday morning, surveying the situation at the implosion-and-gravity-resistant heating plant at the Loring Commerce Centre. The structural integrity of the 60-year-old facility has many truly believing that ‘they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.’
