Sugar City silo demolished

Once the symbol of Sugar City, the iconic grain silo is no more.

Completed in 1909, the structure came to the end of its life Saturday at 9 a.m. in a controlled demolition that drew hundreds of spectators.

While many were excited to see the demolition, many long-time Sugar City residents were sad to see it go.

“I was born and raised (in Sugar City). We live right in the inner city of Sugar City by the park, so it’s definitely something we see every day,” said Rachel White.

“It’s a very sad thing for us. It’s part of history. Hate to see history go,” said Zola Bull.

It took just over 10 seconds for the silo to be completely reduced to rubble. After the initial blast, the 110-foot structure buckled a little before slowly tipping over on its side, landing on several trees.

“There were four bins in that grainery and there was a cross in the middle,” said Sugar City Mayor Glenn Dalling. “They just couldn’t tip and bring it down, they had to tip it over and let it break up the way it did.”

Dust blew everywhere and police had to close a stretch of Center Street to traffic.

Dalling said he would have liked to have left the silo standing, but that it would have cost too much.

“We just had to do something with it to reduce the liability. There was a way that the young people could dig under, and crawl in and climb to the top,” said Dalling.

Late last year the Eastern Idaho Public Health District declared the silo a health hazard because of bird and mice droppings. After unsuccessfully applying for numerous grants to clean up the silo, Dalling said the city was forced to demolish it.

As the dust cleared minutes after the demolition, spectators got their first view of Sugar City’s new skyline sans silo.

Dalling said the city plans to bury the debris and create a park that will contain a mini replica of the silo.