Moran Municipal Generation Station
| Moran Municipal Generation Station | |
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Moran Municipal Generation Station from the Burlington Bike Path
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 Location within Vermont
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| Alternative names | Moran Plant |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Modern, mid-20th century brick industrial |
| Location | Burlington, Vermont |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 44°28′53″N 73°13′24″W / 44.48139°N 73.22333°W |
| Elevation | 100 ft (30 m) |
| Current tenants | Burlington Sailing |
| Construction started | July, 1952 |
| Completed | Summer, 1955 |
| Owner | City of Burlington, VT |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 5 |
| Floor area | 66,972 sq ft (6,221.9 m2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect |
J.F. Pritchard & Co. |
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Moran Municipal Generation Station
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| NRHP Reference # | 10001041 |
| Added to NRHP | December 17, 2010 |
J.F. Pritchard & Co.
The Moran Municipal Generation Station is a former 30-megawatt power plant known for its architecture and innovation built in Burlington, Vermont from 1952 to 1955. It is now a derelict structure that will be redeveloped to encourage year-round use, economic activity and public access. The Moran Plant is located at 475 Lake Street on the Burlington waterfront. It is named for Burlington mayor J.E. Moran.
The Moran Plant was decommissioned in 1986. Since then, the building has been vacant, except for a small portion of the basement utilized by the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center. Ownership of the station was transferred from the Burlington Electric Department to the City of Burlington in 1990. In 2010, the city began executing plans for a rehabilitation of the plant and site.
In 1948, after a series of power shortages, the Burlington Electric Department argued that a new electric plant was now a critical need. Mayor Moran supported the plan.
In 1951, Burlington Electric Department and the City of Burlington water department jointly purchased the lot that the Moran Plant sits on from the Central Vermont Railway. The contract for the new plant was awarded to Pierce Consulting Engineering Company in September. In November, voters approved a $4 million bond required for implementation. BED commissioners selected the Vermont Construction Company Inc. to erect the plant. The 1952 steel strike caused a six-week delay, and ground was broken in July 1952. The situation continued deteriorate. Vermont Construction found itself in severe fiscal distress and Pierce Consulting’s plans were decreed to be not only poor but also $2.2 million over budget. Both companies were dropped from the project and replaced by J.F. Pritchard Company in January 1953.
The plant was fully completed in the summer of 1955. The Moran’s three turbine generators and power switchgear assemblies, sold and installed by General Electric, Westinghouse and Allis-Chalmers, accounted for just over $1 million.
The plant – formally named the J. Edward Moran Municipal Generating Station in 1962 – quickly became a source of angst for those who lived and worked downwind of it. Waste expelled from the smokestacks drifted down and covered everything within its path with a thick, black crust. Laundry hung out to dry was immediately dirty again, windows were covered in soot and multiple respiratory problems were reported. Burlington Electric Department made a series of changes to the plants to reduce the pollution. Although some improvement was noted, problems would persist throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
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