Willmar Municipal Utilities Commission takes final tour of power plant to be demolished next year

Jennifer Kotila, West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minn.
·4 min read

Jun. 3—WILLMAR

— Nearly a century ago, in 1925, the first portion of the Willmar Municipal Power Plant was built to replace a previous power plant that had reached its capacity.

The Willmar Municipal Utilities Commission toured the plant for the last time Monday, May 23, to identify anything of historical value the commission may want to save.

The power plant is scheduled for demolition after a new substation is built to house the power controls currently in the plant. Construction of the substation is taking place this year, and the demolition is planned in 2023.

The demolition is expected to take several months, due to asbestos abatement. Most of the cost of the demolition is due to the asbestos as well, according to facilities and maintenance supervisor Kevin Marti.

Marti noted there is a steam tunnel under Seventh Street Southwest that extends from the plant to about 12 to 15 feet into the intersection with U.S. Highway 12 that will be removed during demolition and the street reconstructed.

With only about a foot of dirt and asphalt over the tunnel, "it's just going to create road problems," said General Manager John Harren.

When the plant was running, it was 90 degrees inside the tunnel at all times, and it began to move and shift during cold weather, Marti added.

A good portion of Benson Avenue Southwest and the sidewalk will also be reconstructed during demolition because part of the basement of the power plant is under the street and sidewalk, he added.

Many smaller items, such as boilerplates, nameplates and switch gears, have already been removed from the plant, Marti said. He told commission members to keep their eyes open for any other items they may think, "Hey, this is neat!"

The majority of items that remain in the power plant will be scrapped rather than repurposed, according to Marti. The value of the scrap and iron in the building will help to offset the cost of the asbestos removal, he added. Some things cannot be saved due to mercury content.

The Kandiyohi County Historical Society has taken some items already, and Marti said it would like the original blueprints from each phase of the plant's construction.

Marti pointed out the buzzing that can still be heard inside the power plant, noting it is still electrically active with high voltage going through it. There are six feeder lines that leave the plant and go throughout town, he said.

"That is why we can't do anything with it until the substation is complete and get all the stuff switched over," he explained.

Pointing out the giant control panels, Marti noted the controls for the new substation will be located in a much smaller building with a smaller footprint. "It's done with computers nowadays, rather than giant panels," he added.

The battery backup room is one of the only areas of the building that is insulated and heated, Marti noted. The battery backup system keeps the plant's supervisory control and data acquisition system up and running for a couple of hours if there is a major power failure.

A well in the plant will be salvaged. During the demolition, the pipes from the well will be disassembled and then reassembled after the demolition to become a self-contained water-buying station available to the public.

The original portion of the current power plant building was constructed in about 1925, and expanded to the east and west in the 1930s, according to Marti. Around 1945, they did a major addition that wrapped all the way around the structure, adding two boilers. Boiler three and turbine three were installed in the 1960s. The last boiler was installed in 1991.

Turbine three was the main turbine for the plant and was still active until a couple of years ago, according to Marti, noting that it could be up and running soon if needed. However, it would not be nearly enough power for the entire city, he added.

Boiler one is an old, thick, brick construction boiler supported by steel and wrapped in a lot of asbestos, whereas boiler three hangs from the ceiling and the walls of the power plant, with no support structure underneath it.

"That was one of the big conversations we had — can we repurpose the building? Not really, because the building is not insulated, number one, and number two, to take this boiler out, there would be nothing left of the north side of the building," Marti said. "It's not just like you can take it apart and move it out."

Boiler two was converted to gas about 10 to 12 years ago. Boiler three, which feeds turbine three, could operate on natural gas or coal or a combination of both, and was actually more efficient running on a combination of both, Marti said.

There were attempts at trying to sell boiler four due to it being a newer boiler, but there was no interest, he added, noting technology becomes outdated so fast.

Down in the basement, Marti pointed out the doors to the large condensers for the turbines upstairs. The older condenser doors, which are very large and heavy, are very architecturally ornate, and there is interest in trying to save one of the older doors to display somewhere, Marti said.