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There is an empty lot in Beaver Creek where the 125-foot-tall wooden grain elevator once stood.
Demolition crews have been chipping away at the iconic landmark for the past several weeks, and construction will start soon on a new commodities office and truck scale being built in its place.
“Everything is in good shape, and we are still on schedule to be operational for harvest,” said New Vision Cooperative CEO Matt Ashton. “Everyone is excited to see the finished product.”
The elevator hadn’t been used for active grain storage for over a decade (only for its office and scale) and was taken down for safety and efficiency reasons, Ashton said earlier this year.
“We want to reinvest in Beaver Creek to serve our customers long-term,” Ashton said. “It’s important to upgrade that facility to help our membership there.”
The new 16-by-24-foot building will have an office, bathroom and utility room, plus a break room for customers and employees.
The new 11-by-75-foot in-ground truck scale will be easier for customers to access with grain.
The office and scale estimated to cost $400,000, joins the three existing bins (built 15 to 20 years ago) with a total grain storage capacity of 1.1 million bushels.
Ashton said the new technology at the bins will allow one person to run the three bins – the pits, legs and conveyer, and there’s a grain probe at the scale to improve efficiencies.
The previous grain sampling process involved a coffee can scoop from the pit that’s tested for weight, moisture and quality.
If there’s spoiled grain, it was discovered as the grain went into the bin, too late to isolate it.
Ashton said New Vision in Beaver Creek typically accommodates 50,000 to 70,000 bushels of grain per day during harvest.
“We hope with the new scale we’ll be able to see more traffic,” Ashton said. “We want to be able to better serve our customers.”
A crane and wrecking ball moved on site in March and slowly started the demolition process that wrapped up last week. Some stored soybeans at the base were not salvageable due to demolition debris.
According to local historians, the town’s original elevator burned down in 1970 and was replaced by the one that was just taken down.
New Vision to remove 1980s grain bins in Hills
Meanwhile, New Vision also took down four steel grain bins in Hills.
Ashton said the bins, built in 1984 and 1989, were last used for the 2020 harvest.
“It was labor intensive – took a lot of people to unload and clean the bins each year,” he said.
“They needed repairs, and the recommendation was to close that part of our business in Hills.
The four steel bins had a combined grain storage capacity of 600,000 bushels.
All grain now runs through the New Vision terminal north of Hills. It has a 5-million-bushel capacity and accepts grain year-round.
The bin site property in Hills will be planted to grass and eventually offered for sale.