Utility questions demolition delay

Pueblo leaders knew as far back as 2011 that Black Hills Energy planned to demolish the old Downtown power plant unless the city wanted to take the property over, utility executives said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Pueblo City Councils last-minute move to delay the $5 million tear-down will disrupt a demolition contract already in place, the executives said during a presentation at a Pueblo Rotary 43 luncheon at the Pueblo Convention Center.

The utility contracted with one company to do demolition and cleanup work in Wyoming, South Dakota, the old Clark coal-fired plant in Canon City starting this month and the old Downtown Pueblo plant starting in April, they said.

The utilitys presentation Tuesday on the demolition project follows a Dec. 23 vote by City Council to impose a temporary ban on all large-building demolitions, a move clearly directed at the old power plant on Victoria Avenue.

City Council members say they want more time to study possible re-use of the power plant building.

Right after the vote, Black Hills executives said the decision could disrupt its demolition schedule and add $500,000 in costs that would be shared by ratepayers in Black Hills service territory outside of Pueblo, such as Canon City and Rocky Ford.

At the luncheon Tuesday, the utility offered more details supporting its position on why the demolition should go ahead, including its own research into the costs and challenges of redevelopment projects.

Among its findings:

A power plant redevelopment in Denver for an REI sports store cost an estimated $32 million and likely would not have happened without the infusion of $6.2 million in public money from the citys Urban Renewal Authority.

A redevelopment of an old power plant in St. Louis into a climbing wall gym was led by a company that supplies the climbing wall industry. It justified the project in part because of St. Louis large population.

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Utility questions demolition delay