Excavators on Friday rolled through hulking piles of rubble, splintered wood and columns of steam now marking the site of the former Martin Drake Power Plant, where the tallest structures have been taken down to ground level, including the epochal smokestacks that once peppered the Colorado Springs skyline.

Crews with Ohio-based Independence Demolition this week worked to tear down the coal bunker and demolished a boiler at the site, Colorado Springs Utilities spokesman Steve Berry said. A month ago, they removed the last smokestack.

Before all generation was permanently shut down there in September 2022, the Martin Drake Power Plant generated electricity for nearly 100 years.

The $20 million demolition project began last year. It’s expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

Closing the coal-fired plant is among steps the city-owned utility is taking to reduce carbon emissions and add renewable resources like solar, wind and hydropower to its portfolio. Utilities also is incorporating new technologies, like battery storage, into the electric grid. Renewable energy represents about 27% of the energy Colorado Springs generates.

The power plant’s structures have come down slowly and methodically to minimize dust, noise and potential asbestos contamination.

Berry said in an email this week that crews will next clear some of the rubble and scrap and also begin demolishing some of the smaller structures at the site.

Independence Demolition is salvaging scrap material that can be sold, Berry previously said.

Once the structures are all removed, Utilities must cover any remaining contamination with layers of soil and vegetation.

Six natural-gas generating units built southwest of the main power plant complex will remain on-site for the foreseeable future. A Utilities substation located south of the old plant will be a permanent fixture.

It’s unclear what will become of the rest of the property. The City Council, whose nine members also make up the Colorado Springs Utilities Board of Directors, will work with residents to decide the site’s future.

To help inform those future discussions, the Downtown Partnership and the Legacy Institute independently completed a visioning document last year that compiled community ideas from a series of public meetings and laid out an expansive list of possible future options for the site, from housing to dog parks or even a solar farm.

The historical contamination and large remaining Utilities’ rights of way could make redevelopment of the site tough, Berry previously said.