Hi all
This was forarded to me By a friend
Andrew Martin

Engines running out of steam
Developer tries to find new homes for steam engines left out of condominium plans
By WHITNEY GOULD
wgould@journalsentinel.com
Posted: July 30, 2004
It sounded like a natural: Turn a building housing vintage steam engines at Milwaukee's former Solvay Coke Co., 311 E. Greenfield Ave., into an industrial-chic "theme" restaurant and museum.

Redevelopment

Photo/Lindsay Steiner
Demolition continues at the former Solvay Coke plant in the 300 block of E. Greenfield Ave., home to a rare collection of old steam engines. The work is not intended to harm the engines, some of which could go to a museum in Edgerton run by the Rock River Thresheree.

Photo/Lindsay Steiner
Redevelopment plans could not include a theme restaurant involving steam engines because of a lack of funding. Instead, the land will be used for a condo and marina project.

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But Tom Short, who wants to redevelop the Solvay property for condos, could never attract investors for the restaurant idea. Now, at least a few of the steam engines will find a new home at a museum in Edgerton. On Thursday, the building they occupy met up with the wrecking ball.

Short, a principal with Golden Marina Causeway and managing partner of Water St. Holdings, said he waited as long as he could to find someone willing to take on the restaurant project. There was lots of interest from steam engine buffs around the country, but no one put any money on the table.

So demolition crews were brought in to demolish the outside walls of the former compressor house, taking care not to destroy its contents: 12 rusting engines, each weighing 12 to 20 tons. The engines are just about all that remains of the Solvay Coke Co., which began turning coal into gas for the city in 1905 and closed in 1983.

Short bought the 45-acre site two years ago and has been cleaning it of contaminants under a consent agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He hopes to redevelop the property, which overlooks the Kinnickinnic River, for condos, senior citizen housing, a grocery store and marina. He said he now has a master plan prepared by Smith Group JJR, a Madison consulting firm.

The developer said the Rock River Thresheree, which runs a steam engine museum in Edgerton, had offered to pay him scrap value for some of the engines and move them to its facility.

Terry Welch of Delavan, a volunteer member of the Thresheree, said the group plans to save a Buckeye engine, built in Ohio in 1905 and weighing about 12 tons, and put it back into running condition. The Thresheree has already reclaimed two smaller engines from Solvay's boiler building.

The appeal of restoring such machinery, Welch said, lies in its raw power. "It's like a living, breathing organism that you control."

The fate of the remaining engines at Solvay is uncertain. Steve Matthesen, a Los Angeles consultant whose great-great grandfather built early versions of Buckeye engines, said he would love to find a way to save some of Short's collection but hadn't come up with a plan to do so.

"I offered to give them to (Matthesen) if he would restore them," Short said. "Right now we just need to move them somewhere where they can be saved."


amartin@wlu.edu

Here is an update:

The developer has finished taking down the walls and the machinery deck, leaving all of the engines sitting on their pedestals, as you can see in the picture below.

One group will get getting the best of the Buckeye vertical blowing engines. Larry Tucker, who has been the major player in trying to document and preserve the compressor house, may take one of the vertical engines. I hope Rick Rowlands of the Tod Engine Project will be able to get a Buckeye horizontal blowing engine. The developer is talking about stuffing and mounting one of the Ingersoll-Rand Imperial Type 10 air compressors.

He wants $250/ton for the remaining engines. (Scrap metal is at $100/ton right now.) For the Buckeye engines; that is approximately $30,000; for the compressors about a $1,000 more.

One group has looked at them this week and declined them; I know of some other groups and individuals who are interested but possibly not at that price. What is not sold will be scrapped.

The developer wanted $100,000 for the building as is. It would have taken major dollars to restore it and prepare it for adaptive reuse as retail space on the first floor. (One person who is very familiar with the building said the walls were bowed and the building unsafe; I could never see it in any of Larry's photographs.)

A major loss, and one that really had me depressed last weekend. But, we knew we had an uphill battle, especially since Witney Gould was the only supporting voice in Milwaukee I know of.

At least we have Larry's photo album, which I linked to below. I recieved another CD-ROM from Larry today, and will look and see if there are any other pictures that show the current state of the engines.

A film crew also came and filmed inside the compressor house for an episode for an upcoming series on the Discovery Channel. I spoke to them via cell phone as they were waiting to get inside; and told them the important thing about this location was that this was one of the last intact steam driven compressor houses still intact in the country. I hope their film shot went well.

I now hope the group working with the Chestnut Hill Pumping station will succeed where we failed, and have an example of a museum full of preserved steam equipment in the midst of an adaptive reuse project.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

Solvay Coke Plant Photo Album, Page 3

james@survivingworldsteam.com

> Here is an update:

> The developer has finished taking down the
> walls and the machinery deck, leaving all of
> the engines sitting on their pedestals, as
> you can see in the picture below.

> One group will get getting the best of the
> Buckeye vertical blowing engines. Larry
> Tucker, who has been the major player in
> trying to document and preserve the
> compressor house, may take one of the
> vertical engines. I hope Rick Rowlands of
> the Tod Engine Project will be able to get a
> Buckeye horizontal blowing engine. The
> developer is talking about stuffing and
> mounting one of the Ingersoll-Rand Imperial
> Type 10 air compressors.

> He wants $250/ton for the remaining engines.
> (Scrap metal is at $100/ton right now.) For
> the Buckeye engines; that is approximately
> $30,000; for the compressors about a $1,000
> more.

> One group has looked at them this week and
> declined them; I know of some other groups
> and individuals who are interested but
> possibly not at that price. What is not sold
> will be scrapped.

> The developer wanted $100,000 for the
> building as is. It would have taken major
> dollars to restore it and prepare it for
> adaptive reuse as retail space on the first
> floor. (One person who is very familiar with
> the building said the walls were bowed and
> the building unsafe; I could never see it in
> any of Larry's photographs.)

> A major loss, and one that really had me
> depressed last weekend. But, we knew we had
> an uphill battle, especially since Witney
> Gould was the only supporting voice in
> Milwaukee I know of.

> At least we have Larry's photo album, which
> I linked to below. I recieved another CD-ROM
> from Larry today, and will look and see if
> there are any other pictures that show the
> current state of the engines.

> A film crew also came and filmed inside the
> compressor house for an episode for an
> upcoming series on the Discovery Channel. I
> spoke to them via cell phone as they were
> waiting to get inside; and told them the
> important thing about this location was that
> this was one of the last intact steam driven
> compressor houses still intact in the
> country. I hope their film shot went well.

> I now hope the group working with the
> Chestnut Hill Pumping station will succeed
> where we failed, and have an example of a
> museum full of preserved steam equipment in
> the midst of an adaptive reuse project.

> -James Hefner
> Hebrews 10:20a
please note the buckeye eng. has riding c/o valves and you must have the right valve trams to set them. If a group does get the buskeyes and move them try and find the trams for that eng. before its too late. regards bb

> please note the buckeye eng. has riding c/o
> valves and you must have the right valve
> trams to set them. If a group does get the
> buskeyes and move them try and find the
> trams for that eng. before its too late.
> regards bb

Buddy Bob; could you please contact me off-list, and give me some information on what the valve trams are, and where we might find them. Neither Larry nor I am familiar with these; and we want to make sure they get in the right hands.

I have attached one more picture taken by Larry that shows well all of the engines.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a



Surviving World Steam Project

james@survivingworldsteam.com