Deconstruction has begun on two cooling towers at Lakeland Electric’s C.D. McIntosh Power Plant on Lake Parker. This kicks off the demolition project that Lakeland Electric hopes to complete in a year and a half.
Two of Lakeland Electric’s cooling towers are expected to be demolished this week.
The city’s third-party contractor, Total Wrecking & Environmental, began dismantling C.D. McIntosh Unit 2’s four-stack cooling tower.
Mike Dammer, Lakeland Electric’s engineer and demolition project lead, said the cooling towers for Units 2 and 3 are among the first large-scale buildings to be torn down in the year-and-a-half-long demolition process.
“What we are trying to do is reallocate and reuse everything that we possibly can,” said John Spaich, Total Wrecking’s general superintendent on site. “We try to sell everything, reallocate to someone to reuse so we aren’t scrapping out.”
Spaich said there is a Middle Eastern company interested in purchasing the turbines from Unit 1 and Unit 2 to operate its power plants. While many parts on the McIntosh plants are considered “outdated,” Spaich said many of the upgrades Lakeland Electric has made are desirable and the parts can be resold.