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Tim Mullane, owner of American Marine Group in Norfolk, cuts through the base of the old Ampro smokestack in Fairport before toppling the steel structure on November 10. Omega Protein Inc. has hired Mullane to salvage the steel and haul four unused vessels away for artificial reefs as part of the ongoing effort to clean up the company’s properties.		The next stack scheduled to be cut apart and taken down is on the main factory grounds. It has become obsolete because a new cooking system that went online early in November recycles emissions, greatly reducing particulate and smoke and eliminating the need for the smokestack. Photos by Starke Jett

He also has initiated a preservation effort to save the oldest smokestack owned by the company, a 130-foot-tall brick stack dating from the turn of the 20th century. The landmark is on the tip of a prominent point across from downtown Reedville.

The structure has a significant crack near the top running down about 20 to 30 feet. If not repaired, the crack could become a safety issue.

All but the smokestack at the main plant and the brick stack are on the old Ampro factory property off Fairport Road. The facility is used now mainly for overflow product storage and distribution.

An employee with Industrial Access Chimney Solutions of Georgia prepares to go inside the 100-plus-year-old brick smokestack to inspect it. The oldest smokestack owned by Omega is the subject of a preservation effort initiated by Omega manager Monty Deihl. He has offered up to a $50,000 matching grant if the Greater Reedville Association will raise the same amount to cover the costs of repairing the cracked stack.

It looked like a scene from Dante’s Inferno, however, on November 10. Tim Mullane, owner of American Marine Group in Norfolk, cut away at the base of the 136-foot-tall steel Ampro smokestack with a torch, sending sparks flying into the darkening night.

“I prefer to work at night,” said a grinning Mullane.

He looked tiny standing with one other worker and the crane operator at the base of the imposing tower. After a couple of hours of precision cutting the stack was still standing with just an unimaginable thread of steel still connecting it to terra firma.

But when Mullane waved to James Johnson in the crane, which had its steel cutter poised against the backside of the stack, all it took was a gentle push to send the 60 to 70 tons of steel crashing to the ground with a resounding thud.

Mullane would cut up the huge cylinder of scrap into manageable sections in the following days and prepare to tow the three 165-foot-long trawlers and the 200-foot-long barge out to their final resting places in the ocean as artificial reefs. He said making reefs is his company’s main mission.

Mullane’s company had already hauled away one other old trawler in 2008. He also will eventually cut down the now unnecessary stack at the main plant and the rest of the unused storage tanks found on the Ampro site, which has significant waterfront real estate potential, according to Deihl. Any improvements will increase its value.

On the same evening the old stack was cut down, Deihl addressed the regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the board of the Greater Reedville Association, the nonprofit organization which administers the Fishermen’s Museum and other properties in Reedville.

Deihl said he offered a matching grant of up to $50,000 to cover the costs of repairing the old historic stack if the association could match whatever amount was found to be necessary. He had already contacted Industrial Access Chimney Solutions in Georgia about an estimate for the repairs, but had not received that information by November 10.

The company sent two men up in a bucket with a crane recently to inspect the top and inside of the structure. Deihl said he doesn’t believe it will cost more than $100,000 to fix the stack, which is in relatively good shape except for the crack at the top.

The site of the old brick stack is used for the annual Blessing of the Fleet and for shooting off the July 4 fireworks. It is also a vital vestige of the fishing heritage of Reedville, having been built by Morris Fisher around 1902-03, according to Deihl. Fisher also built the Gables mansion, an integral part of the town history and an outstanding example of Victorian architecture.

“I think it is a very exciting concept that would bring the community together,” said museum president Maureen Gillmer on November 11. “We want to connect more. The big issues are the cost estimate and finding out what the whole community thinks.”

“The museum people came to see me on Friday,” said Deihl on November 17. “They are very excited and want to go forward with the project. We are all just waiting to see what the estimate will be.”