Smoke stack of former dairy plant being restored

HILVERSUM – Changing manufacturing and production systems have rendered nearly all industrial smoke stacks redundant. Most have bitten the dust as a result of skilled demolition crews taking them down on a quiet morning. At one time, the town of Hilversum boasted 26 such brick structures, of which only one survives. The remaining smoke stack, once the ‘pipe’ for a local dairy plant, is being restored and will become part of a mixed redevelopment project with housing, a school and an underground parking garage. While this ‘schoorsteen’ will survive as a landmark, elsewhere smoke stacks are still coming down on a very regular basis.