When a 2½-ton metal monument is set in place Friday, it will memorialize a 50-year-old landmark on Chula Vista’s bayfront.

It’s been a labor of love for local artist Michael Leaf. He’ll watch the three-piece sculpture, consisting of salvaged metal remnants from the South Bay Power Plant, be lowered to its permanent new home.

The twisted remains of the 165-foot structure that powered the city for 50-plus years have been turned into a tribute to the city, its residents and former plant workers.

The 26-foot-tall steel monument called “powering the arts,” will be at the southern end of the Chula Vista Bayfront Park.


The majority of the sculpture uses plant wreckage but a small portion of newer metal was used to provide structure support for public safety.

The monument has three components to its installation: a 3,500-pound steel sculpture, half ton steel bench made out of turbine blades, and 250-pound, 360-degree spinning easel, the latter part of a project called “Easels Everywhere,” a global art project he’s trying to launch.

“The bench is for people to sit, absorb and reflect — look into the space that was and will be, and the easel allows people to express their individual freedoms.”

Leaf designed and fabricated the monument, which commemorates the plant’s February 2013 implosion. On a chilly, overcast morning, thousands watched as the hunk of metal crumbled to the ground — a moment that for some couldn’t come soon enough.


The plant, decommissioned in 2010, was often called an eyesore and monstrosity, but to Chula Vista native and former Mayor Cheryl Cox, the event was bittersweet. Cox was mayor when the power plant came down.

“It’s such a tribute, not only in the world of art, but it’s a tribute that’s born and raised right here in Chula Vista,” she said. “When it came down, there were tears.”

Leaf was asked by Cox and Councilwoman Pamela Bensoussan to create the monument.

“When I saw those pieces come down I thought, ‘Michael Leaf knows what to do with that metal,’ ” Cox said.


Current Mayor Mary Casillas Salas, a fifth-generation Chula Vistan, said the monument is a testament to where the city has been and is going.

“This sculpture, made of recycled metal from the old power plant, will be a wonderful reminder of the transition of our bayfront from a heavily industrial area to a mixed-use bayfront of scenic walkways, bikeways, marinas, open space, and possible convention center and hotel,” she said.

The Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan, approved by the California Coastal Commission in August 2012, envisions a world-class destination on a 535-acre waterfront that includes residential and commercial zoning, hotels, conference center and more than 240 acres of parks and open space.

Leaf said he wants to preserve that part of history for future generations as a reminder of how the plant served the community.


“To me it wasn’t an eyesore,” he said. “It’s more than just the energy that it created for the city, but the energy it gave to the community through employment and life.”

Leaf, a Chula Vista native and 2002 Hilltop High graduate, said the opportunity is humbling.

“As I went that morning to go watch it implode, I was thinking, ‘man this is kind of crazy,’ ” he said. “I’m about to watch this thing come down that I’ve seen my entire life and then I’m going to get in there and extract the essence of this project.”

The Port of San Diego and former plant operator Dynegy granted Leaf permission to walk the site following the implosion.


“I had about an hour to scavenge these gigantic mountains of steel,” Leaf said. “I would see little pieces tucked under tons of steel and say, ‘can I get under that really quick?’ he said. In all, he collected 9,622 pounds of scrap steel, rebar, turbine blades and other elements.

Michael Leaf carefully selects metal scraps in the aftermath of the South Bay Power Plant implosion in 2013. (John Gibbins)

Leaf is a self-taught steelworker. He was studying yoga in his early 20s when one night a dream would change his life and career.

“After that dream … I got ahold of metal and a torch and the second I touched the metal I said, ‘this is what I’m doing for the rest of my life,’ ” he said.


Leaf said it took at least two years of planning, designing, engineering and fabrication, including a year for prep work and laying it out like pieces of a puzzle.

In seven years, Leaf said he’s created hundreds of sculptures.

“In respect to public art, this is the largest and heaviest sculpture I’ve created,” he said. “This is the most integrated project I’ve created — spiritually, physically and emotionally.”