Ohio Blenders silos in York’s Northwest Triangle are not coming down easily
The landmark silos at the Ohio Blenders York, Pa., complex are coming down and the Northwest Triangle project’s condos, shops and office will go up in their place. That’s the Codorus Creek, at right.(See related photo below.) Background posts: Map explains York, Pa.’s $50 million redevelopment area and York County agrarianism vs. industrialization and All farms and fields posts from the start.
The silos that mark Ohio Blenders can be seen as symbols of York County’s agriculture.
So their demolition to make way for badly needed new and rehabbed buildings can be viewed as bittersweet, another storm to wash out carefully planted seeds in a longtime farm economy.
But those tall icons are not easily plowed under… .
After the ceremonies, workers effectively claw into the side of Ohio Blenders alfalfa sales complex.
A photo op linked to a news conference this week went awry. A construction machine, with York Mayor John Brenner at the controls, was deployed to claw into a grain-loading building next to the towers, a ceremonial act toward their demolition.
But the machine wouldn’t start at first and mechanics had to open its hood, delaying the ceremony. Finally, Brenner, with the help of an operator, maneuvered the claw into the side of the building.
It was as if the deeply rooted silos had willed that they were not going to easily give an inch to a bunch of city slickers in suits.
