THUNDER BAY – The gradual removal of a long-time Thunder Bay landmark is set to continue Friday, as crews prepare for the second major stage of the demolition of the former OPG generating station on Mission Island.
An implosion will demolish the plant’s electrostatic precipitators, devices that removed ash and other fine particles from the station’s exhaust, early Friday morning.
The implosion will demolish about 15 per cent of the facility, estimated Jeremy Later, site manager with Budget Demolition.
The Hamilton-based company took over the 54-acre property after OPG announced it would decommission the plant in 2018.
Later said they hope to hit a 98 or 99 per cent recycle rate with the job.
The largest piece of the work will wait for 2022, when two boilers representing about 40 per cent of the original facility are set for demolition. That puts the company on track with its intended timeline, according to Later.
“So the big show’s coming still in the spring and summer, but everything’s going to plan,” he said. “We’re really happy with how the project has progressed. Safety and timing has all been excellent so far.”
Crews dropped the station’s 200-metre tall stack in September, and have demolished secondary buildings and gutted indoor areas.
The work has involved dozens of employees and was expected to unfold over two to three years, in total.
The Thunder Bay Generating Station first began operating in 1963 as a coal-fired plant, and was shut down briefly and converted to run on biomass or wood pellets in 2014.
The city had initially hoped the property and structures could be repurposed.
