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City manager recommends demolition of Brevard’s historic tannery smoke stack, cites contamination and safety risk
Summary
City Manager Wilson Hooper told the Brevard City Council he recommends demolishing the 125-foot Tannery smoke stack after recent inspections found a through-crack, dislodged material and coal-ash in the pit with elevated boron, uranium and thorium; he said liability, nearby residences and trail proximity make preservation untenable and that staff will return with a funding plan.
Wilson Hooper, Brevard’s city manager, told the City Council that an engineering and environmental review of the city-owned 125-foot Tannery smoke stack has left staff recommending removal rather than preservation. “I have to recommend that an important piece of Brevard’s history be taken down,” Hooper said, adding he was not asking the council for action that night but for authority to develop a funding plan.
Hooper summarized prior work on the site dating to a 2010 EPA assessment and a 2015 structural review and said a more extensive 2024 inspection found a “through‑all crack several inches wide” with portions of material dislodged. Contractors who later sampled inside the stack found ash and sediment that lab analysis identified as coal ash with higher‑than‑normal amounts of boron, uranium and thorium, Hooper said. He noted the bricks and mortar tested free of asbestos contamination.
Hooper described six factors that weighed on his recommendation: the stack’s poor structural condition, the presence of coal‑ash and other contaminants in the pit, an identified fall zone that includes adjacent private properties and the city’s trail, insurer indications that they would not underwrite the structure even if renovated, the planned start of a nearby trail construction project this summer, and the uncertain but potentially large additional costs to preserve the tower once contamination removal is factored in. He said a 2024 preservation estimate was roughly $400,000 but did not include disposal or remediation tied to the coal ash.
Council members asked whether leaving a short stub was feasible and whether bricks could be repurposed. Hooper said a physical stub could likely be left but that insurer refusal creates long‑term liability for the city. He said staff will hire the engineering firm BLE to design a safe demolition plan and will consult the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality on safe removal and disposal of coal ash. He also said the city has established an exclusion zone at the stack base and that neighbors within the fall zone have been notified.
Hooper described disposal options under consideration, including crushing bricks for beneficial fill on the trail, burying contaminated material on site consistent with state guidance, or removing contaminated ash per a state plan. He said more detailed cost and procurement steps will be brought to council when known. "No matter the conditions, the stack can be demolished safely," he said, "what we don't know is precisely how and at what cost."
Council members expressed sympathy for preserving the town’s industrial heritage but emphasized public safety, fiscal risk and the need to pursue external funding where feasible. Several members supported commissioning modest memorial artwork or interpretive material to preserve the stack’s history if demolition proceeds.
Next steps: staff will retain BLE to design demolition, consult NCDEQ on contamination removal and disposal, develop a funding plan for council consideration and return with a procurement schedule; no demolition contract or funding transfer was authorized at the Feb. 16 meeting.
