Iconic blast furnace in Warren coming down - again

WARREN — After a yearlong reprieve, the former Republic Steel/RG Steel blast furnace on Main Avenue Southeast, one of the most iconic structures in Trumbull County, is coming down again.

Tara Cioffi of the Youngstown City Health Department, environmental health director for the Mahoning County Air Pollution Control Agency, said the owners of the blast furnace resumed demolition Aug. 2.

The work has been slow and steady since then. The work is noticeable up close but not from a distance.

The demolition began last year and was originally supposed to be finished by November 2016, but the company put the demolition on hold in August 2016.

It is the last blast furnace left in the Mahoning Valley, which had dozens of them during its steelmaking heyday.

Cioffi said the demolition company, MCM Management of Michigan, indicated the demolition would be a deconstruction and not an implosion like demolitions of the past. She said she believes a slow deconstruction is still the company's plan.

For the complete story, read Thursday's Vindicator and Vindy.com