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Demolition of former Ohio Edison plant underway

Photos: Ohio Edison plant demolished

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By Bridgette Outten and Megan Gildow, Staff Writer Updated 1:45 AM Saturday, July 10, 2010

SPRINGFIELD — Officials expect demolition of the Mad River Plant, informally known as the Ohio Edison Building or “the Giant of the Valley,” to be complete by the end of the summer.

At one time one of the largest power plants in the country, the 51,000 square foot-structure was built in 1927. It generated power to customers as far away as Marysville.

The building was designed by architect William K. Shilling, who also designed the post office on North Limestone Street downtown.

The plant’s 280-foot tower will be the last to come down, probably in late August. Some debris from the demolition such as bricks will be used to fill in the basement of the plant and then later grated over to make the site look as normal as possible, said FirstEnergy Corp. spokesman Mark Durbin. The rest of the debris has been secured according to protocol in permitted landfills across Ohio and West Virginia, he said.

Operations at the plant ceased in 1981 and it has been idle since then, Durbin said.

A few generating units and a substation will be left on the 45-acre site to produce electricity if needed. The generators would only be used at peak times such very hot days when many customers are using electricity and would not run all the time, said Durbin.

There are no other plans for the land at this time.

“The focus right now is to just get it all cleared and then we’ll determine what the possibility is for any type of redevelopment down the road, but as of right now we don’t have any plans,” said Durbin.

The demolition project will cost $3 to $4 million and is part of a company-wide effort that included the 2008 razing of the Rockaway Plant on Buck Creek.

The Springfield Preservation Alliance named the plant one of its preservation priorities, however the structure would be difficult to adapt for other uses because it was built around massive boilers and turbine-generators, according to FirstEnergy officials. The alliance did take photos in June of the facility for preservation purposes.

Staff writers Samantha Sommer contributed to this report.

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