Springdale residents clean up, take in changed landscape following completion of power plant demolition
Springdale is different.
The power plant that dominated its sky, serving as a landmark and part of its identity, is gone — mostly. A mass of mangled metal an estimated 35 feet high remains, the rubble left after Saturday’s final demolition of the 13-story boiler house at the Cheswick Generating Station.
The March 2 attempt to pull down the building was only partially successful, leaving about 30% standing. Saturday’s operation finished it off. It was the last significant piece of the plant to be torn down, following the problematic implosion of its two smoke stacks in 2023.
Much of the ground of the former coal-fired power plant, shut down in 2022, lies barren and vacant, a patch of brown dirt visible beyond a thin line of trees, where terrain allows a view over the fence.
A trestle bridge spanning Pittsburgh Street was removed in 2024 as part of the plant’s demolition. It served as something of a gateway to Springdale from Cheswick and a place where community groups could hang banners.
After a mostly cloudy day Saturday with cold wind gusts, Sunday saw sunny, warmer skies with some puffy white clouds over Springdale. Despite the better weather on the day that also saw daylight saving time begin, only a few residents were found outside their homes along Standard Avenue and Garfield and Grant streets between Porter and Colfax streets, the area that had been most impacted by the surging black cloud of dust kicked up by Saturday’s demolition.
‘A typical Sunday’
Residents said it was a typical Sunday.
Krystie DeVinney, who lives on Garfield Street, was on her porch Sunday. She said she came outside Saturday just as she heard the building start to fall. She has six children, ages 2 to 13.
“The kids were scared. The sky went black. You couldn’t see 5 feet in front of you,” she said, adding that the sky did “clear up within a few minutes.”
On Standard Avenue, Richard Rollins was changing the oil in his SUV parked in the street in front of his home. The insulation that flew into the neighborhood from the building was the worst part, he said, but crews worked into the evening to clean things up.
While they washed the siding of a house across the street, Rollins tended to his home and vehicle. He believes the demolition company, B&B Wrecking & Excavating from Ohio, had done a good job.
“Other than the delays, it seemed to go pretty good,” he said, referring to the fact that the demolition, first expected around mid-morning, didn’t come until shortly after 1 p.m.
Rollins was expecting the dust cloud, which he said dissipated within about 90 seconds. Representatives of B&B and Charah Environmental Redevelopment Group, the property owner, followed in about five minutes, taking photos and offering cleaning help.
Rollins was most concerned about his golden retriever, which he believes was coughing from the insulation and coal dust.
“I’ll keep an eye on her for a couple of days,” he said. “If it gets worse, I’ll take her to the vet.”
On Grant Street, Samantha Marshall was quick to say what she thought while loading things into the trunk of her car.
“I’m thrilled. I can see the beautiful trees now,” she said, referring to the hillside across the Allegheny River. “I’m very happy, happy to finally have it gone. It’s been a long time coming.”
Like the others, Marshall was home when the building fell Saturday. She was watching, and then ran inside when the dust cloud came.
“We watched it roll the street down,” she said. “My car’s a little dirty from it, nothing a car wash can’t fix.”
With most of the building’s remains not visible from her home, Marshall called the view “beautiful.”
“I didn’t realize how much of an eyesore it was until the smoke stacks came down,” she said.
Not everyone is as happy or pleased. On Standard Avenue, a man who did not want his name published had many questions about how the demolition was handled and the way it was done. “Filthy” was the word he used to describe his neighborhood, as he sprayed the siding of his home with a garden hose.
Mother Nature won’t help with the cleanup until probably the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. There’s a low chance of rain Wednesday into Thursday, but better odds come Saturday into Sunday.
Borough Council President Mike Ziencik said he had heard about the dust issues but had not heard of any damage. The companies responsible for the operation were fielding complaints and addressing them, he said.
Borough officials had little to do with it, he said.
“Let’s just hope once we turn this corner, we can make something out of that property again,” he said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
On Saturday, Charah President Scott Reschly said the property is under contract with a buyer for a light industrial and commercial use, but he did not provide specifics.
A new identity?
The plant was such a part of Springdale’s identity that it took on the moniker of “The Power City,” and its schools are “Dynamo Proud.”
Ziencik is a lifelong Springdale resident who watched the plant being constructed in the late 1960s to early 1970s. He remembers telling his daughter that if she ever got lost in the woods to look for the towering smoke stack and walk toward it to get home.
He’s not sure what the borough’s identity will become. “Hopefully something in a positive nature,” he said.
Springdale native Kelsey Armstrong wouldn’t mind if Glen’s Frozen Custard, on Pittsburgh Street near the plant property, became the borough’s new claim to fame. An eight-year veteran of the already well-known business, she was among employees getting the custard stand ready to open for the season Thursday.
With the plant gone, driving through town feels different, Armstrong said.
“That was our monument. Now we don’t have that,” she said through the service window. “It’s so weird-looking now. It looks very different.”
Armstrong is hopeful everyone is happy now and that her community can put all the tribulations of the demolition process behind them.
“Hopefully they do something good with the land. It will be really interesting,” she said. “I’m happy they’re getting things moving and it’s not just sitting there.”
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a TribLive reporter covering news in New Kensington, Arnold and Plum. A Pittsburgh native and graduate of Penn State University's Schreyer Honors College, Brian has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at brittmeyer@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.