Ball State Smokestacks Coming Down

Crews expect to have the smokestacks completely removed by August 26.

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The last signs of Ball State University’s "coal era" are coming down. Workers from St. Louis-based Gerald Chimney Company are dismantling two smokestacks on the Muncie campus as part of the school’s $83 million geothermal system installation.

The school is installing what it calls the nation’s largest closed-loop geothermal energy system. The project began in 2009. The school shut down the coal-fired boilers used to heat and cool the campus in 2014.

As part of the dismantling process, workers cut a hole in the base of each stack then knock bricks inward. The west stack is 180 feet tall, while the east stack measures in at 125 feet. Crews expect to have the smokestacks completely removed by August 26.

You can watch a webcam of the removal process by clicking here.