Iconic Grand Blanc Smokestack Coming Down At The Perry Center

The Perry Center in Grand Blanc is celebrating their centennial next year, but the building will be missing an iconic piece when they do celebrate.

It was announced this weekend that the towering smokestack at the Perry Center in Grand Blanc would be coming down this week. The smokestack has become structurally unsound and building officials made the decision to take it down before it could possibly fall. The smokestack has been a Grand Blanc landmark since going up in 1952, but officials are planning on returning the building to an even earlier point in history.

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The Perry Center posted about the upcoming changes on their Facebook page, and gave a little history about the smokestack.

The smokestack was originally put up in 1952, when the Perry Center was the Grand Blanc High School. The Perry Center had been the Grand Blanc High School since 1921, but transitioned into the middle school in 1961. In 2013 the Perry Center transitioned again into the Perry Innovation Center.

There's a cool quote about the smokestack that the Perry Center put out when they made the announcement. The seniors at the time that the tower was constructed wrote a narrative for the tower.

This time last year I was only a pile of bricks but I promise to be here to keep watch over you for quite a few years

While it is sad to see a landmark come down, it almost seems fitting that the building will be moving toward it's original state during the centennial celebration next year.