Making way for new development in Beesleys Point
BEESLEYS POINT — It was a beautiful day for an implosion.
The sun was bright, the temperature brisk and the air breezy Sept. 29 as the cooling tower at the former B.L. England Generating Station in Beesleys Point was reduced to rubble.
Several dozen people — local and state safety inspectors, firefighters and EMS personnel, township officials and others — gathered at the viewing site just outside the blast zone as a crew from Controlled Demolition Inc. conducted a two-stage implosion that brought the tower down. Others gathered at different locations to view the demolition.
Doug and Talita Faderstrom, neighbors of one of the firefighters in Beesleys Point, brought 14-year-old Michael Durso for a front-row seat to the spectacle.
“I’m here for the excitement of the actual explosion,” Doug said.
Talita was more excited for what comes after the implosion and cleanup.
“Just what they are going to do to the community and bring something new,” she said.
It was kind of like a football game on New Year’s Eve — there was a 2-minute warning and a countdown from 10 to 1, followed by an eruption of noise and excitement and, finally, a big mess left for others to clean up.
Following the countdown, the tower exploded outward from a dark band about a quarter of the way up with an audible boom felt in the chest like a good bass line. The tower began to crumble from the bottom up, then settled at one point — appearing as if the enterprise were going to be a dud — before a diagonal crack appeared as the tower twisted and went down.
Chad Parks of the Beesleys Point Development Group said everything went exactly according to plan.
“The wind was blowing the right direction for us — we are thankful for that for dust,” Parks said. “It was going to sit for a couple of seconds, then turn after about five seconds. It did exactly what we expected it to do.”
The Faderstroms were not disappointed.
“That was cool. We were definitely a little nervous when it didn’t fall right away, but it was cool,” Doug Faderstrom said.
Township Committeewoman Kim Hayes said it’s been interesting to watch on social media how many people shared sentimental feelings for the landmark, perhaps thinking it was the more visible smokestack slated to come down in the near future.
“We are a little sorry to see it go,” she said. “Being born and raised in Cape May County, when you saw this tower, you knew you were home.”
However, she is more excited to see what will replace the aging eyesore.
“This is just the first step leading up to everything being remediated and redeveloped,” Hayes said.
B.L. England was a major factor in Upper Township for nearly 60 years as a source of jobs, electricity and funding, providing the township with energy tax receipts of more than $6 million a year for hosting the plant.
“We’re excited to see some of that revenue coming back to the township to be able to expand on some of the projects we’re already working on, services and to keep taxes down,” Hayes said.
It’s still unclear what the development will entail. Beesleys Point Development Group bought the property, which is more than 350 acres, in November 2021. The sale, about four years in the making, cleared the way for a proposal that may lead to construction of a hotel, marina, restaurants, retail shops and homes.
“Through the redevelopment agreement, Township Committee is negotiating with the developer as to what will go here,” Hayes said. “The beauty of the redevelopment zone is that we have say in what happens there. The impacts on the township is something that we have some control over and we can see what has the most benefit with the least impact.”
Committeeman Jay Newman, chief of the Marmora Volunteer Fire Company, said the blast went off without a hitch.
“Everything went as expected and advertised. Our public safety officials were here ready to go,” he said. “As we move forward, we are going to see more and more of the plant coming down.”
“Now we process the cooling tower material and we are on to the next thing,” Parks said.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff