A brief history of energy and heating at St. John’s

Dear archivist: The leaves are turning and soon the winter winds will blow—how has St. John’s kept warm over the decades?

Dear inquirer: For its first 30 years, St. John’s monks and students burned wood in a multitude of fireplaces and stoves. Note the “forest” of chimneys that emerge from the west half of the Quad, which was finished in 1886. These were not in use for long. St. John’s first power house—to make steam for heating and other uses— was built in 1888. The event inspired a poem in The Record:

Let old Boreas come forth from his cave in the North,

And rage in his terrible wrath, Over hill and o’er dale till the forest doth wail,

At the blight he leave in his path. We heed not his blast howe’er angry ’tis cast,

It brings us not suffering or sorrow.

Ten fires glow red and steam’s at full head,

From these our comfort we borrow.

The power house was one of many destroyed when a tornado struck St. John’s in June 1894. But its boilers survived and would provide steam for over 50 more winters. Wood fuel gave way to coal in the early 20th century. Until 1997, the coal was delivered by rail to the Collegeville Station siding: where Old Collegeville Road crosses the Great Northern rail line, now the Wobegon Trail. Thereafter it had to be trucked from St. Cloud.

The 1888 plant was replaced by the present power house in 1945. (Have you noticed its handsome Art Deco detailing?) Of its erection, longtime campus historian Fr. Vincent Tegeder (1910-2007) wrote, “The project was also most memorable in the annals of the monastic community since the members [the monks] contributed their services in the actual construction of this building. As it arose in the summer of 1945 in a time of labor shortage as World War II came to a close, the monks manned cement-mixers, took care of the steel reinforcements and hauled the bricks and aided the masons. Their work proved to be a very important contribution.”

The new plant featured three coal- fired boilers, “Nos. 1, 2 and 3,” that utilized a landmark 165-foot tall smokestack for exhaust. The new plant provided for cogeneration, that is, the steam produced was used twice: first to turn electrical generators and then to heat the buildings. Fr. Vincent continued, “The construction of this [plant] revolutionized life on campus. It made it possible to change from the use of direct current to [the more efficient and standard] alternating current [electricity].”

In the early 1950s St John’s engaged architect Marcel Breuer to develop a master plan for campus’ second century. The new power house was one of only about a half-dozen extent buildings designated to survive the “100 Year Plan” rebuild. Not only was it kept, the plant was expanded in the late 1950s and a more modern coal boiler, “No. 4,” was installed to power the rapid campus expansion. The 400-bed Tommy Hall, for example, came online at the same time.

Residents needed the heat, but no one cared for the coal dust that came with the plant. A 1969 student editorial letter in The Record is evidence. A more serious challenge came in 1974 from the new federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but the plant was found to be in compliance with emission regulations. A fuel oil boiler, “No. 5,” was installed in this era to provide an alternative fuel source.

The power house was expanded again soon after to provide for the burning of a fuel that would never run out: trash! Unfortunately the project was challenged by fuel inconsistency and problematic emissions. For its final years it burned wood—castoffs from a local manufacturing business.

In the late 1980s, the tunnels through which the steam and other utilities are distributed were rebuilt and expanded. The project included new chiller units that counterintuitively use steam to cool water, which in turn is circulated to cool campus buildings. When the trash burning ceased, that area was used for another chiller unit and a natural gas boiler, “No. 6.”

Further attempts to reduce pollution included the procurement of low-sulfur coal, and sending exhaust through a “bag house” particulate filtration system. Desire for cleaner, renewable energy led St. John’s to install a solar array, north of Flynntown, beginning in 2009. It was expanded modestly in 2014 and significantly in 2016. This story deserves its own future column.

As years passed, the stoker coal that St. John’s boilers needed became something of a specialty product. And so sourcing issues, on top of environmental concerns, meant the winter of 2010-11 would be the last for coal burning in Collegeville. In 2013, the original three boilers were removed, making space for a second natural gas boiler. This lucky “No. 7” was dedicated in November 2015 and provides important redundancy to “No. 6.” No longer serving a practical function, the landmark smokestack was removed over the course of five weeks in 2016.

The original generators produced electricity long past their expected operational lifespan. They were replaced just this year with a single, large steam turbine generator (STG). “The STG is a significant investment in campus infrastructure, resiliency and sustainability,” said Russ Klein, the CSB+SJU chief facilities and resilience officer. It allows the St. John’s campus “to generate a substantial portion of its electricity through the heating and cooling process.”

Since the plant produces high-pressure steam, it must be professionally staffed around the clock, 365 days a year—an occupancy rate that surpasses even that of the monastery snack room! CSB’s steam plant, St. Florian Hall, is likewise constantly attended. We give thanks for our power plant operators and all our maintenance staff who keep us in comfort in all seasons!