Sometimes it’s cool to watch stuff blow up — especially when it’s an old, dilapidated, urban eyesore the neighbors hate looking at every day.
“It was gut-wrenching,” Jimmy Vallier said Friday morning just after part of the former Acme Power Plant at the Marina District in East Toledo was imploded.
“The impact was just unbelievable,” said Mr. Vallier, who lives just across the street on Front Street. “I heard the countdown and then the explosion.”
The abandoned city-owned building sits at the northern edge of the planned Marina District — bordered by cracked sidewalks along Front and flanked by high weeds and rocky terrain. The destruction of the Boiler No. 16 building, attached to the former power plant, inches the city closer to getting the property back into use as a mix of new commercial and residential buildings — something officials have envisioned for more than a dozen years.
The massive explosion, which could be felt thousands of feet away and heard across the Maumee River, destroyed the metal and concrete part of the building. The structure collapsed inward like a filthy house of cards and belched a huge plume of dust that blew over onlookers who quickly dispersed.
Acme Dismantling completed the demolition after winning a bid for the project through Burge Wrecking; the latter is paying the city of Toledo $50,000 to do the work.
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In return, Acme Dismantling has salvage rights to the steel from the project, said Jen Sorgenfrei, spokesman for Mayor Mike Bell.
“The mayor believes this is progress toward making the land developable for further use,” Ms. Sorgenfrei said after watching the implosion from the mayor’s 22nd floor suite at One Government Center.
Keith Ranes of Point Place, was happy to see part of the building come down and said he can’t wait for the rest of it to be leveled or remodeled into something usable for the future Marina District.
“It was an awesome explosion,” said Mr. Ranes, who like many people, recorded the event with his cell phone. “I am hoping they can get something going around here quickly. We have wanted something here for so many years.”
Rob Knappins and his young son, who was holding on tight to his father before the blast, both jumped at the massive bang.
“My dad used to work there so I have been through for tours,” Mr. Knappins said. “Hopefully they can get something going with the Marina District soon.”
Various plans have been bandied about for the former power plant. Developer Larry Dillin, who previously intended to develop the site, had said he would incorporate part of the structure into a commercial-residential development.
Last month, two Chinese investors who have already purchased The Docks restaurant complex, withdrew an offer to buy about 69 acres of the Marina District for $3.8 million. Their U.S. company, Dashing Pacific Group Ltd., formed before The Docks purchase, planned to build a mix of residential and commercial buildings inside an “international village,” the value of which was predicted to eventually top $200 million, said Toledo Deputy Mayor of Operations Steve Herwat.
Mr. Herwat said the city is still in talks with Dashing Pacific and that the firm is reassessing the investment. Since the Dashing Pacific withdrawal, the city has received two other potential offers for the riverfront property.
John Schlagheck, Northwestern Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council executive secretary, e-mailed Mayor Bell and all of Toledo City Council a memorandum of understanding Thursday expressing interest in all of the Marina District property for $3,800,001.
The total Marina District property includes about 125 acres of former industrial land between Front Street and the Maumee River.
The other potential offer for $7.5 million came from the “Toledo Community Investment Corporation.” Thomas Sheehan, head of Sheehan Financial Advisors LLC, 8315 Hidden Forest Drive in Springfield Township, made the potential offer in a May 3 letter to the mayor.
Contact Ignazio Messina at: imessina@theblade.com or 419-724-6171.
First Published May 13, 2011, 3:40 p.m.