VINEYARD — In a matter of seconds at daybreak Thursday, 5,000 pounds of explosives brought down decades of Utah history.
More than 300 drill holes full of explosives riddled the two smokestacks, nine stoves and three blast furnaces that once forged iron at Geneva Steel.
Piece by piece, the now-shuttered Utah County steel mill is being dismantled.
And for many who worked at Geneva, Thursday marked the most difficult day since the plant's closing.
"Watching those furnaces go down, it's obviously the end of an era now," said plant manager Michael Curtis, a 25-year Geneva employee who is overseeing the dismantling. "The skyline will always permanently be changed now."
But the skyline isn't quite as clear as planned: Four of the 170-foot-tall stoves refused to tumble Thursday.
Grant Mackay, owner of the Murray-based company contracted for the demolition, said the concrete of the stoves was harder than in other places.
The snag in the demolition was nothing too serious, however, he said. Crews will clear the debris and rewire the stoves soon.
The furnaces, stoves and stacks stood for 61 years, built during World War II by the federal government for about $200 million. The mill's location was chosen because it was so far inland that it couldn't be bombed and raw materials to support the mill could be found nearby.
Geneva operated under several owners from 1944 until its final shutdown in November 2001. There also was a temporary closure in 1987.
The plant employed about 1,400 people when it closed. Several former workers were among the crowd gathered at 6 a.m. to witness the implosion.
Jim McClure grew up in Pleasant Grove and started as a laborer at Geneva Steel in 1973. He worked 14 years at the plant, eventually working his way up to general foreman. McClure said watching the heart of the mill come down was difficult.
"It's emotional," he said. "This was a good job for a lot of years for a lot of people. And this is an era that's coming to an end."
For Curtis, the task to oversee the mill's destruction also is emotional.
"It's hard for me to see the plant go because it was a good mill and still is a perfectly good steel mill — but just the wrong time," he said. "But I guess . . . I was running the plant when we shut down, and I'd rather do it than turn it over to someone else."
Curtis said a lot of families supported by the steel mill had lingering hopes it would re-open, even after repeated bankruptcy filings.
"It's been very difficult for a lot of families; there's some that were hanging on, hoping it would start up, but watching these come down, it is a little bit hard," he said, "because it's obviously over for a steel mill."
Curtis said a Chinese company is currently dismantling machinery and sending it overseas. The lot should be empty by late next year.
"By the end of 2006 we intend to have all of the above-ground structures leveled, scrapped, hauled off," he said.
Once the land has been cleared, the environmental cleanup phase of the project will begin and continue for a year. After the cleanup phase has been completed, new commercial and residential developments will eventually be built on the 1,750-acre parcel.
"I hope to see some development here. . . . (I'd) like to see a park in here of some kind, for some open space, and then get some more people back to work," Curtis said. "Nothing's going to happen to this place as far as the steel. They need to develop it so that there are jobs for people in the valley."
Contributing: Associated Press, KSL Radio
E-mail: mdecker@desnews.com