How long it will take to demolish the Drake Powerplant

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)--Demolition day is approaching for the Martin Drake Powerplant in downtown Colorado Springs.

The power generating station was shuttered in September, and this week, neighbors are getting a clearer picture of how the demolition will take place.

Colorado Springs Utilities says it's going to be a multi-year-long process, one that starts this summer and won't wrap up until the end of 2024.

Colorado Springs Utilities met with members of the Mill Street neighborhood Tuesday, letting them know the plan for demolishing Drake.

"We're working together through this together," Somer Mese, the COO of Colorado Springs Utilities said. "We're not blindsiding anyone with something changing and being different."

The project will be carried out by Independence Demolition, a company that has brought down plants all over the country, including one in Fremont County. 

For Drake, the process will require eight phases.

First up is asbestos abatement, before t the actual demolition phases, which will run all the way through next summer.

Colorado Springs Utilities told the Mill Street neighbors that the demolition won't be too loud, because Independence is using newer materials.

They will also work only during daytime hours, and never on Sundays.

If work is required that may be loud, Colorado Springs Utilities told the neighbors they will alert them beforehand.

"I'm glad that the Uilitity had this meeting and is engaging the public early in the process," Max Kronstadt, with the Mill Street Neighborhood Association said.

Kronstadt added that those living near the plant are mostly concerned about what comes after the demolition, and the way it could change the face of the neighborhood. 

"With a lot of new development moving in, prices are going up. As a historically working-class neighborhood, people are afraid of being pushed out."

As for what moves in next, Kronstadt believes the neighbors should get to decide.

"While it produced power for the rest of the city, (the powerplant also produced) coal dust and all of these things that are sometimes difficult to live next to. We (should) benefit from whatever happens at the site now that we're moving into the future.

Throughout several public meetings, neighbors have said they want to use the adjacent Fountain Creek in a development. They have generally said they want to see a "mixed-use" approach to the site.

The six natural gas generators currently operating at Drake will stick around until at least 2027.