Springdale boiler house building torn down weeks after failed attempt

The boiler house at the former Springdale power plant was fully demolished Saturday after a failed attempt to bring down the structure last week.

“It’s not exactly what we planned, but still, we’ll be able to finish the rest of the job here,” said Scott Reschly, president of Charah Environmental Redevelopment Group, the Louisville-based firm that bought the site in 2022 said last week in a press conference.

The boiler house at the former power plant was originally planned for full demolition around 10 a.m. on March 2, with crews using cables hooked inside of the building to bring it down. However, officials said the cables used were not fully efficient in bringing the structure down, leaving 30% of the building still standing.

"The building that's still standing is stable, and we could've made it more unstable, but that would have put our workers in danger," the president of B&B Wrecking, Brian Baumann, said during the conference last week. "The 30% remaining is stable, but if we feel it's unstable, then we will make it safe."

Pittsburgh's Action News 4 was on the scene when officials tore down the building. A loom of smoke and debris could be seen following the aftermath of the demolition.

VIDEO ABOVE: Springdale boiler house building fully demolished

The building came down just after 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

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