5:58 p.m., Sept. 30, 2010----“We have a name, the science and technology campus,” said Vic Costa, executive director of 1743 Holdings, LLC.

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Wednesday evening, Costa and 1743 Holdings along with representatives from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and URS Corporation, hosted a community forum at Clayton Hall to outline the decommissioning and demolition plans for the former Chrysler Assembly Plant site.

Speaking to more than 70 attendees, Costa took audience questions and explained the goals for the project, including the utilization of community assets to promote job growth, compliance with all regulatory requirements and cooperation with all government agencies, safe performance of the scope of work, protection of human health and environment and timely completion of work.

Dave Levandoski of 1743 Holdings walked through the decommissioning timeline of the 272-acre site, explaining the precautions that are being taken.

“For the decommissioning, it is going to be all the environmental items that need to be addressed before demolition,” Levandoski said. “Before any building comes down, it will be fully decommissioned.”

Costa explained, with the help of Joe Eichler, URS project manager, section by section what will be demolished and what will remain intact. Those buildings that will remain include the administration building, a small storage building, a building known in the former plant as “OSC” and the iconic water tower.

Demolition will begin in November with the former Mopar parts building along South College Avenue, followed by the wastewater treatment area, the main assembly building and finally the paint structure. Demolition is expected to be complete by December 2011.

While parts of the site will be torn down, URS and UD have a recycling goal of 95 percent of materials. They plan to crush and reuse as much concrete as they can and will store products on-site to avoid unnecessary transportation.

Some residents had questions about noise levels and traffic. URS expects about 20 to 25 tractor trailers moving in and out of the site during work days, which is said by 1743 Holdings to be less than when the site was a fully-operating factory.

Costa also told attendees that work hours would be from 7 a.m. to 5p.m., Monday through Friday. The only time they may work on a Saturday is when two or three workdays are lost due to inclement weather. Additionally, there will not be any work done on Sundays or during Delaware football games.

To date, roughly $2 million of work has been done on-site with relocating utilities, such as sewer, water and electric. “And over 80 percent of that work has gone to Delaware contracting firms,” said Costa.

Previously in May, 1743 Holdings hosted an Opportunity Expo where the contractor finalists, including URS, spent two days at the site meeting with local sub-contractors to help put Delawareans and Delaware firms to work with this project.

“URS expects about 76 percent of work will go to local subcontractors and vendors for the decommissioning and demolition efforts, which will take place over the next year,” Costa said.

“It's revitalization because Chrysler was a mainstay in the city of Newark for so long,” said Eichler. “We are really excited about working with 1743 Holdings on this project.”

For information on upcoming forums, updates on progress of decommissioning and demolition and to view aerial photos, visit the science and technology campus website.

Article by Meredith Chapman