The most visible landmark in Port Kembla is the huge stack used to disperse gases from a copper smelter. That plant has since faded into history - and it seems that the life of the stack is now numbered.
It was built in 1964 at a cost of $ 941,000 in present dollars - and at that time was the tallest stack in the southern hemisphere. It weighs 14,000 metric tons and at a height of 198 metres dominates the Port Kembla skyline.
Unfortunately concrete cancer has set in and the outer facing is crumbling, with constant break-aways a threat to those using the area below.
The suggestion of demolition has provoked controversy. Most agree that it needs to be torn down but a sentimental few would like to see it remain as an icon of a past age. Those in close proximity are very vocal and demand that it be levelled. They remember the foul gases and constant upheavals from a smelter plant that couldn't reach it's promised level of containment - and fear that as long as the stack remains some other manufacturer of dangerous products may seek to use it as a cheap way of starting operations.
Demolition seems a certainty. It is old and no longer meets the standards required of stacks when it comes to resistance to earthquakes and powerful winds - and the cost of refurbishing it could easily match the original building cost.
The government has promised that the levelling will not be advertised to avoid another catastrophe similar to when a Canberra hospital was demolished and the explosions went wrong, scattering debris and killing a young girl.
The end of this stack will be a photographers dream - and they will be hard pressed top ensure secrecy - and prevent a barrage of cameras recording the event !
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