Damen Silos Coming Down in Chicago

Demolition can begin after web site work is accomplished on the Damen Silos, a set of grain elevators relationship from 1906 that preservationists and others regard as an area Chicago landmark and which they’ve tried for years to save lots of for instance of metropolis’s historic function within the grain business.

The proprietor of the property at 2860 S. Damen Ave., which is subsequent to the Chicago River within the southwest McKinley Park neighborhood, is Michael Tadin Jr. of MAT Asphalt. He has employed Heneghan Wrecking of Chicago to demolish the 5 buildings that comprise the silos, which have been constructed by the Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad within the early twentieth century, and which have been deserted within the late Nineteen Seventies following an explosion.

The price of the demolition contract has not been disclosed. It covers two 10-story concrete bundled silos, a one-story masonry constructing and two one-story pre-engineered steel buildings.  MAT Asphalt bought the property from the state for $6.25 million in 2022.

Ald. Julia Ramirez (D), representing the 12^th ward the place the silos are situated, mentioned in a current Fb put up that the Chicago Dept. of Buildings (CDoB) and the Chicago Dept. of Public Well being (CDPH) signed off on demolition permits on July 3 and that the method would start after the July 4 vacation.

“CDPH and DoB can have inspectors onsite each day to make sure all the right security measures are taken,” Ramirez mentioned. “The demolition of this complete web site shall be mechanical demolition; no explosives shall be used.”

Constructing Dept. Commissioner Marlene Hopkins informed a local news site that the silos is not going to be eliminated by explosion or implosion and that “they are going to be taken down piece-by-piece utilizing high-reach excavators and cranes. Barges shall be positioned to guard the river from particles.”

The demolition of every constructing will begin from the highest down, and the entire course of is predicted to take at the very least six months, says Hopkins including that demolition shall be halted if any gadgets fall within the river. 

The U.S. Military Corps of Engineers additionally issued a allow in December 2024 permitting water from the Chicago River for use to suppress mud throughout demolition.

No plans have been introduced but for the way the 23-acre property shall be re-developed.

“The Damen Silos are one of many final remaining monuments to Chicago’s historic dominance within the nationwide grain business,” Landmarks Illinois notes on its web site, including that the acquisition of the silos proceeded in 2022 “regardless of objections from native residents and advocacy organizations who’ve environmental considerations about MAT’s actions in McKinley Park.”

The corporate operates an asphalt plant close to the silos which residents alleged emitted noxious odors in a category motion lawsuit that was settled for $1.3 million in July 2024. 

The demolition of one other venture to convey down a 95-year-old smokestack at a closed coal-fired energy plant in 2020, raised a cloud of mud that settled over the close by Little Village neighborhood. It has raised consciousness generally about how advanced demolitions are dealt with. In that case, Chicago issued $68,000 in fines towards Hilco Redevelopment Companions and its demolition sub-contractors, MCM Administration Corp. and Managed Demolition Inc., and positioned a six-month moratorium on implosions, the Chicago Sun-Times experiences.

“We can not and won’t repeat the errors of the previous, which is why advanced demolitions require stringent assessment and public engagement relating to their potential impression,” Hopkins informed ENR. 

She mentioned that the contractor should present a present survey with the horizontal variations of distance between the buildings to be demolished, a report of the structural situations of the buildings to be razed and a written security and operations report. 

Just lately, neighbors of the silos have pushed for the property to be redeveloped as an occasions venue much like the Salt Shed, which was previously a Morton Salt warehouse in Chicago and has been reworked right into a live performance venue that maintains components of the unique construction.

Neither Hennegan nor MAT Asphalt instantly replied to requests for remark.