Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com - Alex Baumgartner walks through the fourth-floor room where the June 14 auction of Austin Utilities Power Plant items, during a tour of the facility Thursday.

Equipment from a downtown Austin landmark will be up for auction June 14.

Austin Utilities is in the first phase of decommissioning the downtown Austin Municipal Plant; according to Power Production Director Alex Bumgardner, that includes selling as much as $750,000 worth of old generators, turbines, pumps and control panels.

Bumgardner said some of the big-ticket items were appraised in the range of $250,000 to $750,000 total.

Much of the equipment is rather old, from the early to mid 1900s, but Bumgardner said the main reason for the decommission is profit.

“The plant was basically uneconomical and wasn’t of a cost benefit to SMMPA (Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Authority),” he said.

Some of the items will be auctioned as is, and some as scrap metal. The rest will likely be demolished, Bumgardner said.

However, the building itself will stay standing, at least for now.

“Right now, our plans are not to do anything with the building,” Bumgardner said. “We also have other departments that work in adjacent buildings that are actually attached to the power plant. Until plans progress on that end, we aren’t looking at a demolition of the building.

“Someday it may be something that could be potentially offered for sale to somebody else. It’s all a matter of timing and what the Utilities want to do with it in the future.”

An item sits, ready for sale at the Austin Municipal Power Plant.

Once the auction is over, Bumgardner said Austin Utilities will move on to phase two of the decommission. This phase includes an environmental assessment of

the plant, mostly for the purpose of locating asbestos. Eventually, the asbestos will be removed, both through an in-house process and through an outside

contractor.

As a whole, the auction won’t be profitable because the proceeds will be used to pay for demolition and asbestos removal, but Bumgardner said now is the best time to begin the project, especially because scrap metal prices are high.

“We’re taking the proactive approach,” he said.