WATCH VIDEO: ’Mighty Marysville’ plant imploded

MARYSVILLE, Mich. — As thunderous cracks rang across the St. Clair River, the smokestacks of the Mighty Marysville toppled and crumpled after standing for 93 years as a Blue Water Area landmark.

A giant plume of dust took nearly two minutes to cross the river, enveloping the bumper-to-bumper traffic lining the Canadian shore.

In the river, law enforcement officials kept nearly 100 recreation boaters out of harm's way.

"It seemed to go well," said St. Clair County Sheriff Dive Team Chief Wayne Brusate. "It was exciting, it seemed very controlled and it seemed they put it right where they wanted it."

The implosion left a mound of rubble where the towering power plant once stood.

"It's a great day when nothing goes wrong," said Matt Graham, a member of the dive team.

Jeff, Becky and Kayla Brougham, of Marysville, were among a large crowd on St. James Street in Marysville with a clear view across Morton Park when the plant came crashing down at 8 a.m. Saturday.

"It was the coolest thing I've ever seen," Jeff Brougham said.

"The building's been here so long," Becky Brougham said, "Everybody is used to seeing it. Hopefully, the city will do something nice with it."

"I thought it was really cool and stuff," Kayla Brougham said. "It's going to be weird not seeing it."

At least four camera drones hovered over the park but outside the safety zone. A fixed wing aircraft and an ultralight circled the building.

Tom Konik, Marysville public safety chief, said in a statement that the implosion went off as planned.

"I would like to thank the public that came to watch for adhering to the safety zone and following officers' directions," he said.

"Aside from an ultralight that was in the area we had to time the explosion around, the felling went as planned. No injuries were reported and traffic was restored by 8:30."

The explosive charges that brought down the building caught many in the large crowd by surprise as they went off in succession.

Rick Dzurnak, a Marysville native who lives in Clinton Township, didn't get the start of the implosion on video.

"A lot of people are going to be disappointed they didn't have a siren," he said.

"A lot of people are going to be crying because they didn't get their cameras ready."

Dzurnak said the view he's seen all his life will be different without the power plant.

Ralph and Marlene Brow were watching from the parking lot of the Harsens Island Brewery on Gratiot Boulevard.

"He used to work there and he had uncles who built it," Marlene Brow said. "We had a lot of relatives at this plant."

"I just wanted to see it," Ralph Brow said, "It outlived its usefulness."

Eric Larsen, of Burtchville Township, works at DTE Energy's Belle River Power Plant. He said he joined the company in 1976 and worked at the Mighty Marysville.

He said he wouldn't be sad to watch it tumble.

"It seems like the right thing to do, to take that down," he said. "It's not being used. It will be nice, use that space for something new."

On Oct. 19, Marysville city officials unveiled a proposal for the space that would include a five-story hotel, condominiums, restaurants, a banquet hall, outdoor seating, café and specialty food shops, a general retail building and a riverfront promenade.

Also included would be space for a park, a fitness center, a marina and public dock and bike paths.

Matt Coletti of Macomb Township was in the parking lot of the brewery after the implosion, watching aerial video he'd shot from a drone. The explosive charges looked like Christmas lights twinkling as they severed the steel columns holding up the building.

"I thought it was cool," Coletti said. "It was different. I had never seen an implosion before."

His friends, Jeff Weber of Clinton Township and Mike McKenna of Rochester, were checking out the video.

"There was kind of a lot of people here, more than I expected," Weber said.

A loud cheer went up after the building fell and a large plume of dust rose into the air — but McKenna said it didn't seem as if everyone came to party.

"It was strange because a lot of people were clapping, and other people looked like they were kind of sad," he said.

Contact Bob Gross at (810) 989-6263 or rgross@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobertGross477.