COLORADO SPRINGS — It down to the final days of demolition for the old Drake power plant on the edge of downtown Colorado Springs.
The coal fueled generating site would have been 100 next year.
The century long source of energy was facing the end of use because coal technology is being pushed out by modern environmental regulations.
“Just to keep coal plants running is not sustainable under Colorado's regulatory environment, and the expectations with air quality emissions,” said Steve Berry with Colorado Springs Utilities.
That along with the cost of maintenance for an old facility and then a side bar reason of improving the skyline of Downtown Colorado Springs all contributed to the decision for demolition.
The knock-down portion is nearing the end.
“All of the things that look tall, that you can typically see easily from I 25, all of that will be down by the end of this week, if the weather cooperates,” said Berry, “So I think from that point forward, people are going to see a very dramatic change.”
The six smaller stacks to the west of the old plant are not going away.
They are part of a new highly efficient natural gas power generation system.
In the weeks ahead rubble will be hauled away, followed by mitigation work including sampling soil see to see the extent of any contamination.
Results from environmental assessments will be a factor in considering future uses for the site.
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