Demolition project zooms in on rocket engine plant

A sprawling factory in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles that was key to the United States space program is undergoing a demolition process that could take up to a full year.

According to an online article by the Los Angeles Daily News, the former Rocketdyne plant in the Canoga Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, once built rocket engines that powered the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space missions, as well as America’s space shuttle program.

More than 20,000 production workers, engineers and office workers once worked at the sizable complex, according to the article.

The current owners of the property, Hartford, Connecticut-based United Technologies Corporation, has plans to turn the 46 acres on which the plant was located into a mixed use neighborhood that will include $3 billion worth of offices, hotels, shops and up to 4,000 homes.

Heavy equipment has been on the site taking down buildings since mid-August 2016, says the Daily News. The entire demolition and cleanup process could take up to one year.