ForConstructionPros.com

With the Internet age well upon us, the need for paper continues to decline. So naturally, paper manufacturers haven't fared especially well in recent years. While it's highly doubtful the world will find itself completely paperless anytime soon, there's already been enough of a shift to put plenty of players in the paper industry out of work.

It's been an especially unpredictable last 10 years for the old Champion paper mill in the Houston suburb of Sheldon, Texas. But there's nothing uncertain about its fate any longer, now months into a lengthy multi-million dollar demolition project to dismantle the decades-old facility.

With its long history almost completely written, the Sheldon mill had nowhere to go - but down - when Utah-based Grant Mackay Demolition Co. arrived on scene with a 12-man wrecking crew in September 2008. The contracting firm, in business since 1983, is no stranger to large-scale demolition jobs, although this was the company's first assignment in the state of Texas.

"We primarily work in the intermountain area - Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and a few other states in the Southwest," says Grant Mackay, owner of Grant Mackay Demolition. "Our main thing is demolition, although we also do some excavation and construction work. Over the years we've worked our way up to where now we have about 100 employees and anywhere from 10 to 20 jobs going at one time.

"We tackle some pretty big jobs, including the Geneva steel plant demolition in Utah a few years back. One of the financers on that project was involved with the site here in Sheldon. They were pleased with what we did at Geneva and called us in to submit a bid."