News

New use for old ammunition plant

Saturday, November 13, 2004 3:32 PM CST

BARABOO (AP) -- Someone might yet get some use out of the abandoned Badger Army Ammunition Plant.

Volunteers for Habitat for Humanity worked this week to tear down a 34-foot-by-58-foot storage building on the sprawling plant in a special deal between the housing-for-the-needy organization, the state Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army. It could finally determine what becomes of the plant.

In the deal, Habitat for Humanity gets free lumber to sell to the public, the Army gets rid of a portion of the material from the 7,354-acre complex, and the DNR gets some answers about deconstructing buildings.

"We're doing it as a pilot project to see if it actually works," said Habitat for Humanity volunteer coordinator Megan Kenney. "If we can do it, we'll be able to take out more buildings."

The plant opened in 1942 and made powder and propellants used by the U.S. armed forces during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The plant went on standby mode in 1975 and the Army declared it excess property in 1998.

Many of the 1,400 or so structures on the plant have been contaminated from explosives, chemicals or asbestos.

Tom Bennwitz, DNR waste management engineer, said the building Habit for Humanity tore down was one of 90 storage structures used to house magazines.

The storage buildings are considered clean and safe enough for volunteers to dismantle. They had no electricity, running water or heat, so the job was easy once Army contractors removed asbestos in the walls.

Kenney said 15 people a day worked on ripping the building apart. The job began Wednesday and was expected to wrap up Saturday.

The DNR is looking for other organizations to take material from the plant. That could include using more than 100,000 tons of concrete in the storage buildings to help rebuild state Highway 78, which runs along the plant's eastern border.

For now, DNR officials want to get a handle on how much it costs to tear down a building, how long it takes, what materials might be salvageable and if there are markets for them.

On the Net:

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us

Information from: Wisconsin State Journal, http://www.wisconsinstatejournal.com

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