Study the Smokestack, But the Clock is Ticking

On Monday, I met the smokestack I've been hearing so much about.

Greg Eyerly, the city's flood recovery director, took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to introduce us. I'm a little nervous, considering that the 165-foot-tall stack at the old Sinclair meatpacking plant is what they call “an imminent threat” to collapse. Luckily, “imminent” does not mean 11:27 a.m., when I'm standing directly underneath it.

All around us is what's left of the burned-out, flood-damaged plant. It would make a dandy movie set, maybe for something light and upbeat, like the siege of Stalingrad.

It's hard to imagine this was a big-shouldered industrial hub teeming with workers who helped weave the fabric of this community. Now it's cold and so quiet, except for raccoons and broken roofing banging in the wind. The imposing smokestack towers above a wrecked, scarred landscape.

But where I see an old smokestack, preservationists see a landmark. And for now, I'm willing to see it their way.

They want some time to have it inspected, to see if there's any way to save it. The Historic Preservation Commission is securing private, non-profit funding this week for an assessment, which could be completed quickly.

Eyerly says plant demolition can begin on the north end of the site, where there is 15,000 tons of rubble to remove, while smokestack savers do their thing. “If we can save this and we're not taking up public money. I think it's a win-win,” said Eyerly, who does not oppose the assessment. “Once it's down, it's gone.”

I agree. As long as taxpayer money isn't used and the demolition of Stalingrad is not delayed, assess all you want. Even save it if you can. But we've got a lot of work to do around here, so make it snappy.

Taking a little time to think before you knock something down is a good thing. It cuts down on decisions you regret, like smashing a great train station to make way for a parking garage.

The plant is an important chapter in this town's story. Local historian Mark Stoffer Hunter calls the smokestack a “symbol of the working class spirit that built this city.” That's worth at least a short pause for reflection.

We do a great job of saving sites that commemorate the famous, powerful and wealthy. We don't do as well saving some spots where regular people did the hard, everyday work of building a nation. A lot of those spots in this town were flooded, so it's good that we're learning to reflect while we push to recover.

We owe history that much, even if we end up knocking down the smokestack.

Comments: (319) 398-8452 or todd.dorman@gazcomm.com