Video courtesy of Rob Hopkins
The demolition Oct. 26 followed the cooling tower in fall 2022 and boiler units in spring 2023
BEESLEYS POINT — It was another beautiful day for an implosion Thursday when Controlled Demolition Inc. brought down the smokestack at the former power plant in Upper Township.
“This went fantastic; couldn’t have asked for anything better: beautiful weather, great sight lines from everywhere, the wind was perfect,” said Chris Wilson, founder of the Beesley’s Point Development Group that now owns the 377-acre property where it plans recreational and residential development. “This time we had absolutely ideal conditions and the wind behaved as perfectly as it could, so we are very pleased.”
Hundreds gathered on the ground at the north end of Route 9, where it meets Great Egg Harbor Bay, to watch the spectacle, while several news helicopters and multiple drones captured the event from above to share with millions more across the state, nation and world.
The BPDG, which bought the property in November 2021, specializes in redeveloping at-risk sites and has plans for a hotel, marina, restaurants, retail shops and homes as well as a strong environmental education aspect with public access and interpretive signage.
Other steps taken at the site include demolition of the cooling terror Sept. 29, 2022, and removal of other structures, as well as destruction of the boiler units April 21, 2023.
“We’re three for three,” Wilson said, noting he has worked for years with Controlled Demolition, which performs demo work around the world. “You got to see a great example of how specialized they are — we had one come straight down in an implosion, the cooling tower, we had the blow out on the steel structure on the boilers and now we had a kip.”
Controlled Demolition had drilled dozens of holes in the exterior of the 463-foot-tall smokestack that workers filled with explosives before a chain-link fence was wrapped around it to reduce rubble spread.
“Even though it sounded like one blast it was a lot of carefully orchestrated explosions,” Wilson said, likening it to taking a wedge out of a tree before felling it.
Now lying in big chunks, the tower will be broken up so the rebar can be reclaimed, the concrete will be crushed and tested to confirm it’s safe and then used as fill or taken to a disposal site.
“It’s a lot of work. There will be folks out there cleaning up for a few weeks,” Wilson said, noting it took a couple of months to remove the cooling tower.
Two large structures remain — the silver scrubber and a blue tower that is being used as a dry storage area of materials and equipment.
“That will be the last thing down,” Wilson said. “People will continue to see activity as they start cutting them up and taking them down.”
Once the site is clean and flat, the real work can begin.
“We are working closely with the township to ensure we are putting something here that everyone can love and be proud of,” Wilson said.
The redevelopment plan is far from being presented to the public but one thing is definite. The BPDG plans to keep some of the old-growth trees and many of the trails cutting throughout the property for use by the public.
“We are going to be doing a nature trail system unlike anything in this part of the state,” Wilson said. “It’s our belief that you really want to make the township get behind what you are doing. ”
Mayor Jay Newman called the smokestack “the last of the iconic symbols,” noting its removal marks a new beginning for the project and the township.
“I think it’s going to work out and we are really looking forward to working with Beesley’s Point Development Group to get something in here that will be beneficial to the township and the community,” he said Oct. 21 during an event hosted by the BPDG for the community to say goodbye to the stack.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff