The Homer City power plant closed almost two years ago, now the plant is set to be imploded this Saturday, marking the end of an era.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the demolition is a part the Homer City Redevelopment Project, which was formed to help explore, develop, and implement redevelopment plans at the 3,000 acre site.
The power plant has been a staple of its community for over 50 years.
On Saturday, depending on weather, the coal plant will be demolished at approximately 7:00 a.m.
The demolition is a part of the Homer City Generation Site Redevelopment Process, led by the PA DEP.
According to Homer City Redevelopment’s Vice President, Robin Gorman, HCR holds a tremendous responsibility to the community and the business to carry out an extensive demolition, plan safely, efficiently, and effectively.
She says that all access areas to the blast zone, including hiking trails, all-terrain vehicle trails, secondary and primary roads will be closed until the process has been completed.
One resident holds strong feelings for the plant and reached out to us to share his thoughts on the demolition, as well as some photos of the plant.
He said that there is comfort in seeing the stacks, all the way back to when he was a child, and that even with the closure of the plant, the stacks brought a feeling of nostalgia in all the jobs that the plant provided for people in their region over the years.
The nostalgia is due in part that a relative helped build the stacks, who is buried just miles away.
Another resident said, “When I was around 8 or 9 my parents took me to a Pirate’s game in Pittsburgh and that was the first time I saw the grand stacks of the homer city generating station. These towers have been a fascinating landmark for myself and many travelers in western PA for over 50 years. Soon, this weekend, they will be taken down and be nothing more than a memory.”
One source told us that there are no current plans for what will come of the plant site after the demolition.