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FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP - Another Copper Country landmark has fallen, a victim of deteriorating infrastructure.

Demolition of the 96-year-old Quincy Mining Company chimney stack began Wednesday in a move that one Quincy Mine Hoist Association administrator called sad but unavoidable.

"We were forced to take an action not really in keeping with our mission of the historic preservation of the site," said QMHA board member Scott See.

Board members had no choice, he said, following an inspection report they received this past summer indicating the structure was beyond repair, stabilization or restoration.

Built in 1912 by the Weber Steel-Concrete Chimney Company of Chicago, the 140-foot smokestack was one of the first of its kind, built of reinforced concrete with an interior lining that took the brunt of the heat from the Quincy boilerhouse.

Crumbling concrete and rusting rebar has been evident on the structure for some time, See said, prompting the QMHA to move restoration of the chimney up on its list of priorities for possible funding.

About a year and a half ago, estimates to restore the chimney came in at $300,000, nixing that possibility, he said. After that, the association looked at stabilization measures, which might have included a chimney cap and lightning protection.

However, they only got as far as an inspection, See said.

St. Louis, Mo.-based Gerard Chimney Company performed an inspection of the stack on June 24 this year, providing the QMHA with a report on July 31.

During the inspection, the chimney was viewed using a crane-suspended manbasket. Photographs were taken at multiple locations around the exterior and the interior. The concrete wall was also hammer-tested for soundness using a two-pound lump hammer.

Gerard's subsequent report was damning in multiple respects.

Inspectors found the uppermost plumb region (elevations of 134 feet to 115 feet) "severely deteriorated and in need of immediate demolition." Spalling, a condition where the rebar has been exposed and is rusting, was found in this region, with exposed rebar possessing high levels of corrosion. A "weakened bond," inspectors found, "between the deteriorating bar and concrete allows remaining steel to peel from the wall."

At other elevations, inspectors found hollow-sounding concrete, exposed reinforcing and deeply spalled areas in immediate danger of falling.

The report concluded with the recommendation the entire chimney be demolished down to grade.

"We discovered it was in worse condition than anybody thought," See said.

With the receipt of that report, the QMHA found itself in the unfortunate position of having to demolish one of its chief landmarks or risk liability to its 13,000 paying visitors per year.

"Once we received that report, there was no way we could say we didn't know how bad it was," he said.

Not only did the chimney pose a threat to human life, but its adjacency to the 1894 hoist house was also a concern.

"There was a sense of urgency to do something so we didn't damage further structures," See said.

Julio Contracting of Ripley will oversee the demolition, which began Wednesday with a considerable amount of preparatory work, said George Kiiskila, a QMHA board member and a structural engineer with U.P. Engineers & Architects of Houghton.

First, the crumbling top of the chimney was hand-demolished using a person in a man-basket throwing loose debris into a chute in the chimney's interior.

The next step is to perforate the base of the chimney to ease the stack's descent.

"Holes are poked in the bottom with 12 by 12 timbers put into place," he said, while choker lines at the top help keep the chimney stable. The timbers are removed just before the lines are pulled, Kiiskila said.

That work will be done in the near future based on weather, mostly the impact of high winds.

Demolition is expected to cost about $30,000, See said, which will have to be borne by the association.

"There was grant money available for stabilization, but not for demolition," See said. Additional resources may have been available, he said, but time was a significant factor.

"With more time to explore other resources, we might have been able to take some other path," he said.

See said board members were in agreement the structure needed to be taken down.

"We're extremely disappointed that we're having to demolish this important piece of our landscape," See said. "Unfortunately, we have to mitigate the threat to our staff, visitors and other resources that the chimney poses."

Jane Nordberg can be reached at jnordberg@mininggazette.com.