A longtime manufacturing facility on the north end of Urbana will soon be reduced to rubble as demolition work has begun on the former Siemens Energy & Automation building at 145 Dellinger Road.
An international company based in Germany with North American headquarters in Georgia, Siemens began producing circuit breaker components in its Urbana plant in 1983. After two-plus decades of manufacturing in Urbana, the company closed the plant in 2009, and the building has been vacant ever since.
Prior to Siemens’ arrival in Urbana in the early 1980s, the building was home to several other manufacturing firms – Bulldog Electric, ITE Imperial Corporation and Gould Electronics.
Marcia Bailey, economic development director for the Champaign Economic Partnership, said she was informed by a Siemens representative that corporate made the decision to demolish the building between six and 12 months ago.
“The company decided it no longer had a use for the building,” she said.
According to the demolition permit issued by Champaign County Building Regulations, Cincinnati-based O’Rourke Wrecking Company is handling the work, which includes the removal of the building, water tower and asphalt. The estimated cost of the demolition work is $150,000.
What will become of the property once the cleanup work is complete is unknown.
“I don’t know what their future plans are for the property,” Bailey said.
The Champaign County auditor’s website lists the current appraised value of the 11.07-acre property as $306,270.
