You could call it the grain elevators' going-away party.
Moorhead city staff and elected officials held a pull and pitch party Thursday at two downtown grain elevators slated for demolition next month.
Rewarded with pizza and pop, a crew of about two dozen hauled out "household waste," nonhazardous items left behind by previous owners.
Having an environmental cleanup company do that would have cost about $25,800, according to bids the city received for the work.
The two city-owned grain facilities -- the GTA elevator at 1011 First Ave. N. and Kragnes elevator, 1516 Main Ave. -- will be dismantled, starting in November, to clean up the street corridor and make room for new development.
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Thursday morning, city sanitation, street and parks workers dumped some of the heavier items that were removed from the elevators.
A volunteer crew of city staff members and elected officials shed ties and donned jeans before clearing leftovers from the pigeon-infested buildings.
What did they find?
In the Kragnes elevator -- a clothes dryer, an old coat, a bike, coffee cans, a shoe, and an old doll with one leg. Not to mention the hazards: dead pigeons, grain dust, general wood and metal refuse.
City Manager Bruce Messelt, who dreamed up the pitch party to spare city coffers, said he was pleased with the results.
"It's one of those rare projects where you get to be involved in changing the landscape of the community," Messelt said. "We'll be talking about this one for years."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Joy Anderson at (701) 241-5556
