Commission votes to save Sinclair smokestack

The city's Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously Thursday night to save the smokestack at the former Sinclair meatpacking plant.

What happens next will be a negotiation process between the city and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Eight commission members discussed the smokestack for about 45 minutes before deciding to pursue saving the century-old structure, rather than other buildings at the site at 1600 Third St. SE.

Members Jon Thompson and Amanda McKnight both cited the smokestack's towering presence, at 160-feet-tall, as making the structure unique and significant to the city's skyline.

Chairwoman Maura Pilcher will inform FEMA today of the commission's vote.

FEMA, the City Council, and other groups, such as Preservation Iowa, will need to agree with the commission and sign off on a memorandum of agreement.

Potentially all the funding to restore the 100-year-old smokestack could come from FEMA, which is paying mitigation funds for damaged historic properties.

So far, FEMA has said up to $200,000 in mitigation funds could be available to offset cultural losses made by the federal government, which is paying to demolish the flood- and fire-damaged site. That money is only for historic projects and cannot go to flood victims.

Oak Park Chimney Corp. of Forest Park, Ill., estimated it would cost $420,425 to preserve the smokestack.

Rod Scott, president of Preservation Iowa, noted that FEMA's mitigation amount is negotiable.

“I think that's a pittance,” he said. “In my opinion, that's underfunded. That's the city's single most important industrial site in its history.”

T.M. Sinclair opened the plant in 1871. It eventually became one of the four largest meatpacking plants in the world. Twelve structures on the site are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Scott encouraged the commission to negotiate for more funding that could be used to preserve the smokestack.

Sushil Nepal of the city's Department of Development said city plans call for multi-family housing and mixed use development for the site once it is cleared.

The smokestack was not on the city's demolition contract for the site. Other buildings not on the contract could potentially be saved if agreement is not reached on the smokestack.

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