Belding clock tower: Final demolition imminent, crews will try to save structure's top

BELDING, MI After standing watch over the city for 123 years, the iconic Belding silk mill clock towers final days are winding down quickly.

Little besides the tower remains of a once-hulking factory complex that has undergone demolition since late March in the middle of downtown Belding.

Belding Mayor Ron Gunderson said the clock tower the focus of a two-year legal battle that ultimately failed to prevent its demise would most likely come down in the next two weeks, although that timeline could change.

How much of it can be saved is difficult to know yet, said Gunderson, the lone dissenter last November when the city agreed to let property owner Electrolux demolish the tower.

The Swedish appliance giant has sought to demolish the entire property over concerns about environmental contamination liability since reacquiring the factory complex in September 2010.

The November agreement ended a David v. Goliath-type lawsuit between the city and the company. It stipulates the top portion of the tower should be preserved, although the company is bound only by reasonable efforts to dismantle, preserve, donate and deliver the top of the historic structure to the city.

Gunderson said the wrecking crews are planning to move the top portion of the tower from the top of the highest window with a crane, but its hard to know whether the structure can survive the process intact.

They are not held liable if anything happens, he said.

Historic machinery that was part of the clock and bell mechanisms in the tower will soon be delivered to the city, he said. Detroit-area consultant Golder Associates and Midland contractor Bierlein Companies are managing the demolition work.

Related Stories: The long fight to save Belding's historic clock tower Silk mill-turned-apartments is a reminder of Belding's glory Tale of two towers: Belding fight recalls demolition of old GR city hall

See more here:
Belding clock tower: Final demolition imminent, crews will try to save structure's top