SHELBY — The Municipal Light Plant in Shelby was retired about 13 years ago.
Pieces of equipment have slowly been removed from the plant since 2013, including turbine generators and cooling towers. But the most notable structure on the Mansfield Avenue property still remains — that being an 190-foot smokestack.
Completed in 1935, the iconic smokestack has stood tall as a pillar of the city’s skyline for more than 90 years. It’s nearly impossible to miss for those traveling into downtown Shelby.
But issues with the smokestack’s upper cap, mortar joints, age and other structural concerns have left local lawmakers with a choice — remove the structure or repurpose it.
Councilmen Steve McLaughlin, Charlie Roub, Eric Cutlip and Derrin Roberts all suggested on Tuesday that their preference is to move forward with plans to demolish the deteriorating structure. Councilman Nathan Martin was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.
McLaughlin said demolition of the smokestack could range anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million. In June 2025, he reported the two most recent demolition quotes came in at $310,000 in 2021 and $500,000 in 2023.
“I believe demolition is the way to go with that (smokestack),” Roub said. “Why in the world would we want to saddle somebody down the road with maintenance costs on something that we decided to spend a lot of money on today?”
Cutlip agreed with Roub, but warned that council must be cautious and mindful of finding the funding to perform the work.
“There are huge capital improvements that need to be done within the utilities (department),” Cutlip said. “We have to be careful with our monies with that to not raise rates to take it (smokestack) down.”
Equipment exiting light plant building
Switchgear equipment, along with a supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA), is still operational at the Mansfield Avenue plant, said John Ensman, the city’s director of utilities.
But both the switchgear and SCADA system are in the process of being moved from the property, Ensman said Tuesday.
After the gear is gone, he said there would be “no use” for the building.
Roub proposed waiting for the equipment to be moved and possibly seeking grant funding to demolish both the smokestack and the light plant building — which Ensman agreed would be a reasonable course of action.
If the smokestack were to be demolished, the city’s utilities antenna would also need to be relocated.
The antenna currently sits mounted to the railing of the structure’s 150-foot platform and the repeater is stationed inside the light plant.
Possible relocation sites include the water tower off Mickey Road or possibly co-locating on a cell tower.
Smokestack discussion dates back several years
Discussions have been ongoing as far back as October 2023, which is when Shelby City Council voted 4-0 to construct an agreement with the Richland County Land Bank for the demolition of the aging structure.
However, the Land Bank removed Shelby’s smokestack from its Ohio Department of Development demolition application in April 2024 due to specifications related to the grant funding.
Amy Hamrick, Land Bank board manager, previously explained that ODOD demolition program funds are intended for demolition of commercial and residential buildings — for the purpose of revitalization and redevelopment.
“They (ODOD) said there’s no way to revitalize or redevelop that (Municipal Light Plant) property because we’re just removing the smokestack,” Hamrick said in 2024.
The question of how to address the smokestack was formally reintroduced during a council meeting in March 2025 when lawmakers began discussing the options of demolishing or repurposing the structure.