A plan is in place to demolish the massive Damen grain silos in McKinley Park, but the permit for the work is still pending.
City officials and contractors presented the proposed demolition plan during a community meeting Friday evening at the Arturo Velasquez Westside Technical Institute, 2800 S. Western Ave.
Representatives from the Department of Buildings, the Chicago Department of Public Health and Heneghan Wrecking — the demolition contractor hired to do the work — outlined how the silos near 29th Street and Damen Avenue could be taken down.
Dozens of residents attended the meeting armed with questions about how contractors and the city would ensure that the buildings would be torn down safely and without negative environmental damage to the community.
Devin Gora, 29, is one of many preservationists who have urged Damen Silos owner Michael Tadin Jr. to either preserve the historic structures or sell them to someone willing to repurpose them for a new use.
Gora, who lives in Pilsen, said he was disappointed by Tadin’s lack of interest in considering the community’s input on potential uses for the site.
“It’ll probably end up a parking lot,” Gora said."The owner has been kind of nebulous about what he’s going to do with it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he just left it vacant for like 30 years and waited for it to quadruple in value and just sell it off again.”
Tadin hasn’t disclosed his plans for the land near South Damen Avenue along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. However, he has made it clear he doesn’t intend to sell the more than 20 acres he purchased from the state for $6.5 million in December 2022.
Tadin submitted an application to the city for a demolition permit, but a permit has not been issued as of Friday.
To avoid repeating the mistakes made during the botched implosion of a former coal plant smokestack that left Little Village smothered in dust over Easter weekend in 2020, the Damen Silos are expected to be dismantled gradually, piece by piece, without the use of major blasts.
The demolition will involve five buildings, with the largest part of the project focused on two sets of 80-foot concrete silos and a tower approximately 110 feet tall.
City inspectors will be on-site daily during active demolition to monitor the process and ensure all necessary safety precautions are being followed.
Department of Buildings Commissioner Marlene Hopkins said the silos would be demolished using an excavator and cranes with a high-reach excavator. Hopkins said barges would be placed along the north and east elevations adjacent to the structures to serve as a catch deck to protect the waterways from debris. Buildings three, four and five will be demolished using excavators with grapples and buckets.
Health Commissioner Olusimbo Ige described the project as an “environmentally complex” demolition, requiring extra precautions to ensure it is carried out safely.
Ige said dust control and the site’s proximity to the river were major concerns.
Ige said that before Tadin could apply for a demolition permit, he was required to pass a lead inspection and remove all asbestos and other hazardous materials from the site. Those steps have been completed, she said.
To ensure there is no dust, Ige said there will be four portable air monitoring devices on the premises. The devices will be used for real-time air monitoring every 15 minutes, and inspectors will be tracking what is in the air to make sure it does not exceed what is allowed during demolition work.
The demolition is expected to take about six months to complete, however it wasn’t known when it would begin.
