Demolition of flood-and-fire-damaged Sinclair plant starts Monday; could take 6 months; smokestack decision needed by the end of July

CEDAR RAPIDS - The demolition of the former Sinclair meatpacking plant starts Monday and is expected to take up to six months, City Hall reports.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is paying the $7.725-million demolition bill plus another $211,302 for a firm to monitor debris coming from the site for contaminants. The debris is being handled as if it contains asbestos, which has added greatly to the cost to landfill the material in the local solid waste agency's Mount Trashmore landfill just downriver from Czech Village.

A lingering question at the Sinclair site is the former plant's smokestack. Historical preservationists have said they will work to raise funds to reinforce and preserve the structure, which the city says is leaning and could pose a safety threat to demolition crews at some point.

Grey Eyerly, the city's flood-recovery director, told the City Council this week and repeated again on Friday that a remedy for the smokestack likely will need to be in place by the end of July as the demolition effort gets close to the smokestack area.

D.W. Zinser Co. of nearly Walford, Iowa, won the city contract to perform the Sinclair demolition.