Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Heavy construction equipment is used to remove debris from the recently demolished smokestack at the former Ohio Edison electric generation plant off Belmont Avenue in Weathersfield Township. Controlled explosives were used to bring down the 400-foot smokestack on May 21.

WEATHERSFIELD — Work crews continue to clear debris from the recently demolished smokestack at the Ohio Edison electric generation plant off Belmont Avenue. Cranes and other equipment have been at the site removing what remains of the rubble.

The 400-foot smokestack, which resembled a large cigarette, was felled on May 21 while crowds watched from a small hill at the end of Clearfield Avenue at the Belmont Avenue bridge and other locations. Controlled explosives were used to bring it down.

The first demolition attempt that morning caused the smokestack to lean only at an 11-degree angle. Seven hours later, another round of explosives took it down.

Brian Baumann, president of Cleveland demolition company B&B Wrecking, said the second blast was set to be bigger.

The rest of the building is slated for demolition in October after the asbestos is removed, according to Baumann and Weathersfield fire Chief Tom Lambert. That blast is expected to be larger than the May 21 explosions — and likely will draw an even larger crowd of people who want to say goodbye to the local landmark, they said.

Two 300-foot smoke stacks rise out of the building, which are scheduled to be demolished in the fall.

The plant stood for many years, and the 400-foot tall smokestack built in 1980 was a landmark visible from several parts of Niles, McDonald and Weathersfield.

Officials and former employees have said the smokestack had an elevator that workers would use to get near the top, where they would use ladders to climb the rest of the way. Former workers said that from the tower, they could see downtown Youngstown from the south side and Mosquito Lake from the north side.

Lambert said he was amazed how many people came to watch the smokestack come down “because it’s history.”

The plant has gone through various companies: Ohio Edison, then First Energy, then GenOn and eventually NRG.