City’s skyline shifts with elevator demolition

The third attempt to schedule the demolition of Tea’s last grain elevator, located near First Street and Carla Avenue, proved successful on Sunday, Nov. 9. High winds had delayed earlier attempts. “It went quite well,” Lincoln County Emergency Management Director Harold Timmerman said of the event. At least 140 people from various agencies participated in the controlled burn.

Firefighters from 19 area departments and eight southeastern S.D. counties partnered with law enforcement, city and county officials for the demolition, which began at about 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Removal of the grain elevator will allow for continued progress on the city’s athletic complex and increased local parks and recreation opportunities.

“I would just like to thank our Fire Department and the Emergency Management Directors from Lincoln County and Minnehaha County for thoroughly planning out all the details for burning the elevator, and all the local fire departments who volunteered their assistance,” Tea Mayor John Lawler said. “They did a great job and the structure burned and fell just like they said it would.”