Smokestack’s time has come

We think fighting to preserve historic landmarks is a valuable civic objective. But we fear there's not much fight left in the historic Sinclair smokestack. And there are good reasons why its swift demolition is in the community's best interest.

The smokestack, more than 160 feet high, is a local icon. It towered over a slaughterhouse operation that played a central role in defining the city's hard-working industrial identity. Letting it go is not easy.

But the Sinclair site where the smokestack sits has become a threat to public health and safety after being ravaged by flood and fires. A fire in December, the second one this year, blanketed large parts of the city in a smokey haze and led to health warnings. Local, state and national officials agree that its demolition should be put on an emergency fast track.

But that demolition process could be hampered and delayed if the smokestack does not come down first. The stack was declared an imminent threat to collapse even before the December fire. City Flood Recovery Director Greg Eyerly says the smokestack is leaning at its base “like a broken twig” and is cracked. He says safety dictates that the smokestack is the first thing that has to go when demolition begins, otherwise its potential collapse would place a huge portion of the property off-limits to workers.

Still, city officials have not ignored the structure's historic significance.

Local officials sought and gained permission for demolition from the state's historic preservation office. This week, the city called in high-definition, laser-imaging cameras to document the smokestack's structure. Such data will be valuable if building a replica of the smokestack were ever contemplated at the cleaned-up site.

It's also possible that materials from the site could be saved for future use. Eyerly says the presence of asbestos could hamper hopes for recovery and reuse, but testing will be done to determine possible hazards.

“We are being sensitive to that,” Eyerly said of preservation concerns. He's scheduled to meet today with a representative of the Cedar Rapids Historic Preservation Commission, which has asked that the smokestack be inspected. “There are historic considerations for structures all over our city as we go through flood recovery.”

Historic preservation is important. But in this case, public safety has become the overriding priority.