Iconic Kalamazoo Smokestack Coming Down

wsjm949depend-2016-84
wsjm949depend-2016-84

A landmark smokestack that’s among the last signs of Kalamazoo’s Gibson guitar-making history is coming down for possible preservation and inclusion in a redevelopment plan on the property. The Kalamazoo Gazette reports Thursday crews expect to finish dismantling the top of the white-lettered brick smokestack within about a week. Officials say they are removing 30 feet of the 85-foot stack and will determine if more needs to go. The top was deemed unstable. The building is getting a $12 million renovation, and the plan includes observation areas to view the smokestack through lights. A fundraising campaign is planned to preserve and reconstruct the stack. Although Gibson Guitar Co. decamped for Nashville in 1984, Heritage Guitar Co. was started by some ex-Gibson employees and makes instruments on the site.