Demolition of the S.U.M steam plant - 1962-63

During the winter of 1962-63 the steam plant of the S.U.M. in Paterson, NJ was demolished to make way for what is today Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park. After the main building was taken down by demolition contractor V.Ottillio and Sons all that remained was the 200-foot brick smoke stack. On a cold winter Saturday the smoke stack was destroyed but not without giving up a fight. A very large cable was attached to the stack at its midpoint and a crowd of hundreds watched as a Caterpillar D8 bulldozer failed in its first attempt to topple it and instead broke the huge cable in spectacular fashion. The contractor regrouped and came up with Plan B, which consisted of building a temporary elevated roadway that would lessen the angle of the cable to the bulldozer. (That elevated area can be seen in the right background of the first photo. It has since been leveled into a parking lot.) After several hours the new roadway/platform was ready and the D8 attached in tandem to a World War II surplus tank pulled the monumental chimney into oblivion.