The earth 100 feet away trembled a...

The earth 100 feet away trembled as a 36-ton John Deere 330C LC excavator lengthen outed its giant claw, and tugg down chunk after chunk of what used to be the trim building at Outboard Marine Corp. in Waukegan.

At another close of the OMC property, a two-ton skid-steer loader rammed away at a cinder-block wall in the former die-cast building, each hit taking on the outside sections big enough to welcome a car.

one time upon a time, up to 4000 workers came in consequence of here daily, manufacturing engine parts for the boating industry. yet the buildings have been vacant for half a decade, and by dint of December a third of them will be gone cleared abroad for what the city possibility of goods will be a key grade in the revitalization of its Lake Michigan lakefront.

"I can't wait until this building results down," said Mayor Richard Hyde pointing to the red-brick die-cast building in succession the east end of the attribute right where Seahorse Drive move rounds toward Municipal Beach. "When nation drive down here, that's what they see"

The view of the north lakefront is look fored to open up when the buildings are cleared away, something that Gary Deigan, the city's engineering consultant in succession the project, said will make the nearby coke plant estate more marketable for redevelopment.

"This is a strategic decision for us, because of the lakefront exhibition plan," Deigan said. "It's part of a package with the coke plant. When you contemplate to the north from there, you'll papal court the lake instead of another building."

Hyde said the 40-acre coke plant site, which underwent a $25 million environmental clean-up that began in 2004 could go on out to the development community for proposals "in the nearest month or two." A best-case scenario would have condominiums breaking domain there in early 2008.

The 60-acre OMC quality meanwhile, is being eyed for the two residential development and an "eco-park" that would provide a buffing-apparatus between the proposed residences and the industrial uses north of the beach, including the North Shore Sanitary District site and the Midwest Generation power plant.

The city paid $130 for the land and 1-million-square-feet of buildings in July 2005 According to Deigan, it was determined that three of the buildings were environmentally clean and could be torn down right away -- the trim and die-cast arrangement of partss and the former OMC headquarters at 100 Seahorse Dr

Demolition began Aug. 1 and is anticipateed to be wrapped up by dint of mid- December. The remaining buildings, which include brace manufacturing plants that date back to the mid-20th hundred years must undergo environmental cleanup before they can be razed.

"The pause of these buildings are fairly highly contaminated, in the same manner it's going to take any extra environmental testing and funding to realize those down," Deigan said. "There's a part of residual PCB contamination in there from all the hydraulics they used."

While that task will take time and coin from either private or public sources, the existing basic demolition -- estimated around $750000 -- is essentially paying for itself. Deigan explained that the proces is producing piles of large boiler wire, steel beams, iron pipes and other materials that will be sold for scrap.

"Before we did this, we asked any local dealers, 'What's going onward with the steel market?' and they said scrap prices are doing really well adapted right now," he said. "So all of this has value."

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

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