Mark Mattone of Springdale still recalls when he scaled the “stacks” on a crisp fall day in October 1973.
Mattone, 73, a retired electrician, worked at what was then the Duquesne Light Power Station during the 1970s.
“I was asked if I was afraid of heights, and before you know it, I was up there with a 360 (degree) view and changing lightbulbs,” Mattone said. “Those lightbulbs were as big as basketballs.”
Mattone said he plans to watch the implosion of the two smokestacks outside with fellow members of the Springdale Volunteer Fire Department from a ladder truck parked along Pittsburgh Street near the Dollar General.
“We’ll be there in case something happens,” said Mattone, who has lived in Springdale since 1971. He lives on Marion Avenue and can easily see the smokestacks from his home.
Mattone and his friends will don protective eye and ear gear and wear masks while watching the implosion.
“I don’t think it will be that bad,” Mattone said. “I’m being optimistic. I’m not too concerned about it.”
The older smokestack is about 750 feet tall, and the newer one is 552 feet tall.
Mattone expressed disappointment about the impending implosion.
“I don’t like to see the power station being closed and shut down. (Implosion) is just the end result. It’s not good for the economy or the country. Where will we get the electricity?” Mattone said. “I understand ‘going green’ and all of that, but there’s nothing in the making to replenish what we’re losing.”
The smokestacks, which belonged to the former Cheswick Generating Station and are iconic in the Alle-Kiski Valley, are scheduled to be imploded at 8 a.m. Friday or soon thereafter, according to officials. The plant closed in April 2022 after more than 50 years of operation, and its impending implosion garners mixed reaction among lower Allegheny Valley residents.
Springdale resident Glenn Ziencik said he’ll be outside to watch, but said he’s on the fence about how he’s going to feel when they’re gone from the Springdale skyline.
“I’m used to looking at them,” Ziencik said.
Ziencik said he has lived through smoky conditions and that things have been cleaner than they’ve ever been.
“But they’re gonna make some dust (Friday morning),” Ziencik said. “I know that.”
So does Jeffrey Madoni of Pittsburgh Street. He’s temporarily evacuating his home early Friday.
“I have asthma, and I am concerned about the dust and air quality,” Madoni said.
Madoni’s home has been in his family since the 1930s. The stacks tower over the view from his front porch.
Madoni said the mayor and borough officials visited residences near the stacks, including his, distributing information sheets on what to expect Friday morning.
Madoni plans to cover his air conditioners to prevent dust from settling into his house.
“The officials suggested it would be best to leave for about three hours,” Madoni said. “They said there will be dust. And that was a coal-fired plant, so there’s gonna be a lot of dust.
“I hate to see it go. It was sad to see the plant go. Guys lost their jobs. My uncle worked on the tall stack when they built it. Whenever we would go somewhere and return, we’d always say, ‘There’s the stacks — we’re almost home.’ ”
Julie Dellert of Springdale works from home. She plans to watch the implosion via a livestream.
Dellert, 30, lives up the hill from the stacks and said she’s a “little nervous” about what to expect.
“It’s a staple of the community, but I think overall it will be better for the community to have them gone,” Dellert said. “It’s bittersweet. This is how people know this is Springdale. When you drive here, that’s what you identify with.”
Kathy Whelan of neighboring Cheswick said she and her husband will sit on their front porch and watch. She said it will be weird to look out and not see the smokestacks.
“I’d rather them take it down than it deteriorate and it fall down,” she said.
Some residents are embracing smokestack socializing opportunities Friday.
Lauren Frey lives at the corner of Spruce Street and Duquesne Avenue in Cheswick. She is attending an implosion watch party with others along their street.
“Our neighbors invited us to bring the kids over and watch,” Frey said.
Plumm Mullins of Cheswick said she is ready for the “cigarettes” to come down.
“It’s an eyesore,” Mullins said. “We have this beautiful Allegheny Valley here, and I’m happy to see them go. People are excited to be able to breathe better.”
Springdale High School student Joey Walls, 14, said his peers are all talking about the implosion.
“It’s always been here,” Joey said. “Whenever you drive in, it’s the first thing you see. … Everyone is just talking about if it’s dangerous or not. It’s going to be really weird not seeing it anymore.”
Joey’s mother, Melissa Walls, plans to gather the family and leave for the morning because she feels uncertain about what to expect.
“We’re nervous about what’s going to happen when they come down,” Walls said. “We don’t want to be here when they come down. I don’t think they were really clear on telling us what’s going on.”
William Kamer Jr. of Vandergrift was working Wednesday in Cheswick. He remembers the stacks when they were all brick.
Kamer, 42, said the stacks define the area and are a useful landmark for directions.
“It’s just gonna be weird. That’s life, I guess. Everything changes,” Kamer said.
“The landmark that I always used to tell people to use will be gone.”
