MARCUS HOOK — After decades of abandonment and a number of failed redevelopment plans demolition at the former FMC/ American Viscose property on 10th Street in Marcus Hook is kicking into high gear.
Developers are demolishing the remaining buildings on the site ahead of a planned 375,000 square-foot warehouse complex to be built on the 30-acre property.
Borough officials recently held a town hall meeting for residents with demolition experts and developers to outline their plans.
Borough Manager Andrew Weldon called it an exciting time for the property to be redeveloped as most of the structures have been vacant since the late 1970s. Weldon said borough council has conditionally approved the development and the land development plan should be completed within the year.
The sale of the property to Duke Realty was finalized in December and Keith Meehan, Senior Project Manager with Duke, said his company expects to be a permanent fixture in the community. He said the new buildings will be fully sprinklered, environmentally focused and LEED sustainable designed.
Meehan said he hopes borough residents will be able to find jobs at the new warehouse.
American Viscose Co. was the first to successfully manufacture artificial rayon silk in the early 20th century and the plant contributed significantly to the country’s defense in both World Wars I and II, supplying fiber for military applications. In later years the plant was owned by FMC Corporation which is still responsible for brownfield clean-up at the site.
In November a three-alarm fire struck one of the buildings being demolished. Nobody was injured in the blaze in the old warehouse section of the building which has now been demolished.
Ted Jefferies, Project Executive for General Contractor IMC Construction, said it would take six to seven months of demolition to take down the remaining buildings,which contain more than 700,000 square feet of space. Following that site work will take place to prepare the property for construction.
Crews have already been working on the safe removal of asbestos in the buildings. Air monitoring goes on inside the building to assure no asbestos is escaping.
“Our No. 1 priority is safety, everything we do is driven around safety,” Jefferies said.
Demolition of the building will be done by hydraulic excavators that will chew up the buildings foot by foot, said Bob Casciato. President Alliance environmental which is the contractor doing the actual demolition work.
A special 200,000 pound excavator with a 105 foot boom is being used for the job. Crews will slowly process the building down floor by floor and the 60,000 tons of masonry from the demolition will be crushed and processed and reused on site which he estimated will save 3,000 truck trips through the borough, Casciato said.
“It’s the most beneficial use for this material and you are also going to save that number of trips coming in to import material… roads , pipe bedding, filling up basements and things like that.” Casciato said. “There are faster ways to take these buildings down but no safer ways given its proximity to the street.”
The smoke stack, which is 225 feet tall and 26 feet wide at the base, will be imploded, officials said, possibly in March or April though a demolition permit has not yet been issued for that part of the project.
“It’s a big stack” Casciato said, noting that it will fall into the property with most of the weight falling straight down.
Officials said the demolition of building one, which runs along 10th Street and faces the historic Viscose Village homes will be done cautiously to minimize debris and dust to neighboring properties. Concrete barriers and fencing will be put up to protect from debris falling into the street.
Officials said 10th Street will remain open during the project; however Penn Avenue, which wraps around the east and north side of the complex, may be rerouted. Officials are still working on the logistics of the fire station which needs to remain clear for use.
A number of residents were concerned about the dust that would be created. Demolition officials said water would be sprayed including a large machine that resembles those seen at ski resorts. It will spray a fine mist to keep dust down.
“It’s not a dust-free process. I’m not going to lie to you but we are going to do our best to mitigate it,” Casciato said.
Officials read a statement from FMC, which is responsible for the brownfield clean-up on the property.
Their plans called for that work to occur in July and August and it will involve excavation of certain soils and establishment of engineering and institutional controls prior to the redevelopment. The company recently resubmitted their plans to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection titled FMC remedial investigation/ risk assessment report and clean-up plan. Remediation of the site is separate from the demolition. The brownfield work is more to the back of the site along Penn Avenue and will remove contaminated dirt and move it off site.
Officials also expect to create a memorial marker to the Viscose Co.
“We’re excited about this. Those buildings have been sitting there for a long long time, so we’re excited, we want this to happen but we want it to happen safely,” said resident Lorraine Daliessio.
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