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Mackinaw City's wind turbines come down

They were installed in 2001 and had a lifespan of around twenty years

Two structures that have stood tall in Mackinaw City for more than two decades have been dismantled and sent to be recycled.

During the month of May, the two, 230-foot, wind turbine generators just south of the Mackinac Bridge, were decommissioned, taken apart, and removed.

Mackinaw City Manager Patrick Wyam says Crystal Flash did the work extraordinarily well.

However, he says, the skyline will not be the same.

"Without those landmarks in there, along with the bridge, it is a little different," Wyman said.

The turbines were located at the Mackinaw City's Waste Water treatment plant since 2001.

Twenty-three years later, the lot they were gone - the only evidence of them having stood there is some disturbed ground.

Wyman said the lifespan of the turbines is around twenty years.   

He said the city was offered to take over the turbines, but that would have been too costly to maintain.

Back in 2001, this was Michigan's first commercial wind project, achieving the first permits, interconnection and leases.

"Those were the first second and third windmills in the state at the time when they were put up. I think people thought it was more cutting edge and neat, kind of, a lot different than what you see downstate now where you see thousands of them," Wyman said.