When will Avon Lake Power Plant be demolished?
AVON LAKE, Ohio (WJW) — We now know when part of the Avon Lake Power Plant will be demolished.
City council members on Tuesday afternoon learned a controlled implosion at the Lake Road plant is set for the early morning of Wednesday, July 31.
Tuesday evening, city officials confirmed the implosion will be between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m.
The Ohio Department of Transportation also announced a road closure on Tuesday afternoon.
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U.S. Route 6 (Lake Road) is expected to be closed between Miller and Moore roads between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. “for the demolition of structures at the old Avon Lake Power Plant,” reads the notice.
That’s when workers will establish a 1,200-foot perimeter to keep people out.
Motorists must detour around the site by taking U.S. Route 6 East to Miller Road, then heading south onto Walker Road, then heading east onto Moore Road, then getting back on U.S. Route 6.
Officials had withheld the exact date and time of the planned demolition for safety reasons. City officials initially planned to alert residents 30 minutes beforehand, but on Monday agreed to send notice the night before, after residents voiced concerns about safety and transparency.
The U.S. Coast Guard has been alerting mariners to the Wednesday implosion since at least July 17.
The Coast Guard has planned a safety zone on Lake Erie in a 750-yard radius around the plant, which will be in effect from 4:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Mariners are advised not to enter the area without first radioing the Coast Guard on VHF channel 16.
Mayor Mark Spaetzel previously discouraged people from coming to watch the demolition, saying it won’t be a spectacle. It might not even be visible.
Two boilers inside one of the buildings are set to be imploded with controlled devices.
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Residents can expect to see dust lingering for about 15 minutes after the blast, the mayor said. Air quality will be monitored before, during and after the demolition.
The plant was the largest of its kind when it was erected in 1926, according to Cleveland Historical. Its demolition, expected to be completed by November, is making way for new lakefront development.
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