Controlled implosion flattens James DeYoung Power Plant
HOLLAND — Throngs of curious onlookers swarmed Kollen Park, Dunton Park and the surrounding area to watch as the James DeYoung Power Plant was demolished Thursday — a local monument left a pile of rubble in just a matter of seconds.
The controlled implosion was the result of years of conversations and decommissioning work and stands as the next step in transforming Holland’s waterfront.
Mayor Nathan Bocks described the implosion in one word — precision.
“It was well planned and incredibly executed,” Bocks said. “They had it down to the second. All indications are that everything went the way it was planned.”
JDY supplied the community with electricity for 78 years, opening in 1939. It was replaced by Holland Energy Park, which sought to improve efficiency and reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent.
Dave Koster, general manager of Holland BPW, said the plant stood as a “foundational asset that provided affordable and reliable electricity for generations, helping Holland to develop into the place we know today.”
Exterior demolition work began in earnest after voters approved the sale of the land the plant once stood on. It'll be part of a land swap agreement with GDK Construction and Verplank Dock Co. — currently located on Eighth Street near Boatwerks.
If all goes according to plan, Verplank will relocate to Pine Avenue and GDK will begin work on a large-scale waterfront project with businesses, hotel rooms and residences, utilizing adjacent city-owned land.
But there's a lot that still needs to happen between demolition and shovels in the ground, including what will likely be several rounds of approval between the Holland Planning Commission and Holland City Council.
“Council wants to make sure we do our very best to fulfill the vision of Waterfront Holland,” Bocks said. “The community has told us what they wanted, we’ve listened to them and we consider ourselves the keepers of that faith. People said they want public access and we're going to make sure they get that public access in new and additional ways.”
Koster said demolition wouldn’t have been possible without the work of many local employees.
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"We are grateful to our team and partners who, through careful planning and responsible remediation, carried out an expert demolition,” Koster said. “Clearing the space where James DeYoung once stood opens new opportunities."
The final stages of demolition are expected to wrap-up this fall for a cost of about $5.7 million — almost $1 million less than Holland BPW budgeted for, according to a release.
— Contact reporter Austin Metz at ametz@hollandsentinel.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Controlled implosion flattens James DeYoung Power Plant
