Looking back on the legacy of Sudbury's Superstack

Sudbury's landscape will be changed forever in the next five years as the Superstack and smaller Copperstack are dismantled by Vale Base Metals.

Ahead that, some people are remembering what has been and looking forward to what could be.

The second-tallest freestanding structure of any kind in Canada, the Superstack was decommissioned in 2020 after advances in technology made it no longer necessary. (Photo from video)

The second-tallest freestanding structure of any kind in Canada, the Superstack was decommissioned in 2020 after advances in technology made it no longer necessary.

Officials detail the dismantling process in a YouTube video.

“Basically, you're going to see a structure going up," Vale's Gord Gilpin told CTV.

"And slowly but surely the structure will come down. From a schedule point of view … we're scheduled to have the Copperstack -- which is the shorter one -- down by the end of 2025. And we're finalizing plans for the Superstack. It'll be more of a five-year project.”

Built by Vale's predecessor Inco to disperse sulphur gas out of the city, Liisa Kovala 's father worked to build the giant structure.

“He worked on stacks across the country and into the United States," Kovala said.

Built by Vale's predecessor Inco to disperse sulphur gas out of the city, Liisa Kovala 's father worked to build the giant structure. (Photo from video)

"I want to say upwards of 24 or 25 stacks. He also went across the country pulling them down when they were needed … to be demolished. And this was his very last stack. So, I mean, I thought, that's amazing. But if you're going to go out, go out on the biggest one there is.”

As part of the Sudbury Writers Guild, Kovala was part of an anthology titled 'Sudbury Superstack: A Changing Skyline, which was released in May.

“Sudburians have lots of opinions about it," she said.

"Whether they hate it or love it or have some personal connections to it, people have opinions. And so we decided to bring writers together, but also community members. So others contributed to the book who maybe never wrote anything at all before but wanted to share their memories.”

• Download our app to get local alerts on your device
• Get the latest local updates right to your inbox

Gilpin said Vale has a plan in place on how it will commemorate the stacks.

“We do have a bit of a plan, a competition, if you will, or vote for the community to help us choose one of three options on how we can commemorate and remember the stack," he said.

"One being a mural, another being sort of a statue, and the third being, a picture book -- a coffee table type book.”

Residents are invited to visit Vale's website to vote for one of the three options.

Voting will close at 4 p.m. Sept. 27 and the winning proposal will be shared on Vale's Facebook page in October.