COLORADO SPRINGS — Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) hosted an open house Tuesday night to discuss the demolition process of the Martin Drake Power Plant.
The plant shut down for good in September 2022 as part of CSU's plans to achieve reduced carbon emissions by 2030.
The demolition phase of the project is scheduled for the summer of 2023 to the summer of 2024. The work will take place during daytime hours and is not planned for Sundays. During that phase, CSU said nearby residents will be notified in advance of high noise events, like the hammering of concrete.
"We're not doing any kind of explosives or implosions or wrecking balls or anything like that. It's a very systematic and managed process to demolish a plant like that, especially in the middle of an urban landscape," said Steve Berry, spokesperson for Colorado Springs Utilities.
Some residents that attended Tuesday's open house brought up concerns about dust mitigation and traffic from equipment trucks. CSU said water hoses and trucks, sprayers, and barriers will be used to mitigate dust during the demolition. Large equipment trucks making deliveries and pickups will not be permitted in the Mill Street neighborhood near the plant. Instead, large trucks will use I-25 and South Nevada Avenue to get to the site.
CSU said scrap and trash trucks will create light vehicle traffic along West Cimarron Street, South Sierra Madre Street, West Las Animas Street, and Conejos Street during the demolition.
Planned Project Timeline:
- Construction Mobilization: June 2023
- Abatement: Summer 2023
- Demolition: Summer 2023 - Summer 2024
- Final Grading and Reseeding: Fall 2024
- Project Completion: End of 2024
CSU said six natural gas generators installed at the Drake Power Plant site will go online in May. The generators will act in place of the two remaining generators inside the plant that have run periodically on high-demand days over the past couple of years.
As for future plans for the site post-plant, CSU said their focus right now is getting the demolition done and managing the utility infrastructure that will remain there until approximately 2027.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
