City commission hopes smokestack base can be saved

If the entire Sinclair smokestack cannot be saved, maybe one section can.

The city's Historic Preservation Commission recommended Thursday night to preserve the 41-foot plinth, or base, of the century-old smokestack.

Sushil Nepal, the commission's staff liaison, and member Jon Thompson will meet with city staff on Friday to discuss that possibility.

The City Council voted this week to tear down the smokestack, based on estimates that a delay in demolishing the former Sinclair meatpacking plant to preserve the structure would cost $2.74 million.

No formal vote was taken, but the eight commission members prioritized three recommendations: First, preserve the plinth in its current location. If that was not possible, they recommended saving the structure to move to a new site. Lastly, if the base could not be saved, to preserve the bricks  to reuse in a walkway or other memorial.

Chairwoman Maura Pilcher noted that the bricks in the smokestack itself cannot be saved if the smokestack is demolished, but the plinth was made from standard Chicago bricks that might be salvageable.

Member Matthew Carstens said it made sense to keep the plinth at the site of the former meatpacking plant, 1600 Third St. SE.

“It's lost its value as a marker at that point,” if it is moved, he said.

Up to $200,000 was available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for preserving the smokestack.

Nepal said it will cost that same amount  - $200,000 – to tear down the structure.

Because of its height, and air quality rules, different equipment must be used to demolish the smokestack than what D.W. Zinser has been using on the plant, he said.

It was unknown how much FEMA might allot for preserving the smokestack's base.