10th August 2023
It was an eventful day, which meant getting up early for breakfast and out on our bikes.
Today the old James De Young power plant was due to be imploded. Built in 1939 it housed two coal fuelled boilers that supplied power for seventy eight years closing in 2017.
We joined the small crowd at Kollen Park, one of the closest viewing places waiting impatiently for the nine o clock event.
The time came and went, there was disappointment, I had shot a lot of video, mainly of peoples head with no idea when the action would happen. Kelli reminded me that she didn’t like standing, I explained that the English are used to standing in queues and to stop complaining.
After about thirty minutes it happened, no warning, just boom, and no video, a bit of an anti climax, but the demolition team had done a great job. By placing the explosives on one side they blew out the supports causing the building to fall on its side.
Now it was all over, and the crowd slowly dissipated, we got on our bikes and headed home, I couldn’t help thinking that with a bit more explosive they could have transported it into the scrap yard next door.
The rest of the day we spent trying to make the project dresser look more respectable. The top and side panels required vast amounts of filler to flatten out the dips and gouges. There were times when we almost gave up, we had to get more paint, but gradually the finish improved and so did our spirits, we had done the best we could.
Another Lifetime to go 