THUNDER BAY — One of the most prominent features on the Thunder Bay skyline for decades is expected to fall to the ground Thursday morning.
The company that purchased the former Thunder Bay Generating Station plans to demolish the stack which, at nearly 200 metres or 650 feet, is believed to be the tallest structure in Northwestern Ontario.
Budget Demolition of Hamilton bought the decommissioned Mission Island power plant from Ontario Power Generation last spring.
The company says the controlled demolition of the stack will happen sometime around 9 a.m. in the form of an implosion, a process that will see it collapse inward.
Budget site manager Jeremy Later said would-be spectators should refrain from going to the island.
"We just want to ensure that everyone stays away from Mission Island, and maybe go somewhere else in the city with higher elevations, and also stay out of the water around the island," Later said in an interview Wednesday.
Police will patrol the area to ensure public safety.
"We're shutting down everything" within a broad area around the island, he said. "It's basically a kilometre away...Also the waterway. The channel will be shut right down and the OPP will be out in the lake, too, keeping everyone right back."
Thunder Bay Television will be permitted on the site to record the event.
Budget Demolition also plans to make its own video accessible on its Instagram page after the implosion.
The last time a landmark structure on the Thunder Bay waterfront was demolished was in December 2000 when the former Pool 6 grain elevator was brought down to make way for redevelopment of the waterfront.
Video of the elevator's spectacular fall was broadcast later that day on CBC's The National.
