Part of former Springdale plant pulled down; more demolition planned in late September

Part of the former Cheswick Generating Station’s boiler building in Springdale was pulled down Monday night, making way for the rest of the building’s demolition next month.

Scott Reschly, vice president of operations for the property owner, Charah Solutions, said the selective catalytic reduction portion of the plant is what was demolished.

“It went as planned, and there were no issues,” Reschly said.

That portion of the plant faces Cheswick.

The demolition of the remainder of the plant is planned for “the latter part of September,” Reschly said.

“It needed to get out of the way,” he said. “You need to get ‘A’ before you can do ‘B.’ ”

He said Charah is working with local police and emergency management agencies to solidify a date, time and other specifics for the demolition.

“We’re still fine-tuning that … but I think we’re in a good spot to start communicating after Labor Day,” Reschly said.

Most of that communication will involve officials going door-to-door to inform residents of the demolition and answer questions they might have, he said.

Reschly said residents weren’t notified of Monday’s demolition because it wasn’t big enough or an implosion, and there were no noise or dust concerns.

The power plant closed in April 2022 after operating for 50 years. Charah Solutions, an environmental remediation firm based in Louisville, Ky., acquired the site last year to demolish the plant.

The plant’s smokestacks were imploded June 2. Charah, Controlled Demolition Inc. and Grant Mackay Co. performed that work.

No one was injured in that implosion, but an air blast from one of the falling towers caused some power lines along Pittsburgh Street to fall, and some residents and businesses in the area lost power for a time.

That demolition resulted in some nearby property damage, but residents were encouraged to contact Charah to submit claims. Reschly didn’t provide specifics or comment on how much the company spent to repair damages. He said they responded to about 150 homes.

It is not quite clear what the future holds for the power plant property.

Earlier this year, Springdale’s planning commission recommended approval to rezone the property for residential use, but representatives from Cheswick Property Environmental Redevelopment Group — which is owned by Charah — requested the property maintain its industrial-use zoning.

Before a decision was rendered on that proposal, Springdale underwent a zoning review boroughwide after being approached by the Heinz Endowments. Council in July decided to refer a zoning overlay proposal to the planning commission.

The proposed, mixed-use overlay wouldn’t change any zoning districts, but it could allow for uses not specified in the current districts.

The proposal would allow mixed-use development on certain parts of the riverfront. Officials said the intention is to increase environmental protections and include a focus on more transit and trail-oriented development.

But representatives of the redevelopment group told council in July they were against any changes to the property’s zoning, and if the borough takes action “to reduce the economic beneficial uses of the property,” Charah will pursue legal action.

Reschly said Wednesday he had no further comment on the overlay proposal besides what has been stated by company representatives at borough meetings.