Damen Silos demolition underway as historic structures make way for new development

The demolition of the Damen Silos is underway and moving quickly.

Just five days in, the smaller buildings surrounding the massive structures near South Damen Avenue along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal are already torn down and destruction of the silos has begun, according to city officials and owner Michael Tadin Jr.

The biggest portion of the demo project includes two sets of 80-foot concrete silos and a tower that’s about 110 feet tall. The demolition will take months.

Tadin, who acquired the more than 20 acres of land that include the silos in 2022, has not announced what he plans to do with the site. Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration sold the property to Tadin for $6.5 million.

Despite proposals to preserve the historic structures, Tadin has said the cost of doing so isn’t practical.

City inspectors are on site to make sure the procedure is done safely to protect nearby residents and the environment, a spokeswoman said.

The demolition is considered by the city to be “environmentally complex” because of its size and potential for creating harmful pollution. The term was created after the 2020 Crawford coal plant implosion debacle in Little Village. Chicago officials gave a private developer, Hilco Redevelopment, the go-ahead to take down an almost 400-foot smokestack through implosion. There will be no implosions allowed with the Damen Silos.

The grain silos, owned by the state for more than 90 years, were featured in the 2014 movie “Transformers: Age of Extinction.”

McKinley Park Development Council circulated a petition in recent weeks to make the Damen Silos a public park and festival grounds. More than 1,000 people signed the petition, according to Kate Eakin, the group’s managing director.

The group Preservation Chicago also advocated for turning the land into park space and a concert area.

Blue Star Properties, which redeveloped the former Morton Salt warehouse on North Elston Avenue and created the Salt Shed concert venue, was among the bidders in 2022. Blue Star was the lowest bidder, however, offering about $3 million less than Tadin.