As a boy in the early 1970s, Steve Lanesbury watched the Liddell power station stacks rise into the Upper Hunter skyline.
On Tuesday, he will catch up with some of his former power station mates at Muswellbrook RSL. They will share a few yarns and reminisce as the iconic structures fall to the ground in a cloud of dust.
The demolition will mark the end of an era in more ways than one.
The sight of the 170-metre stacks from the New England Highway has been synonymous with the trip to Muswellbrook for more than half a century.
Of equal significance is what the demolition of the industrial landmark means to the community as it looks to an uncertain future.
"I was sitting with a couple of my mates on Anzac Day. We've grown up with the power station. We watched it get built, I helped shut it down, and now we're gonna watch it get demolished," Mr Lanesbury, who worked at Liddell for more than 40 years, said.
"It feels a bit like someone who has got a terminal illness. We knew five years ago that this day was coming and now it's here."
Mr Lanesbury, a former shift manager, admits he wasn't particularly optimistic about the town's future following the closure of Liddell in 2023, the impending closure of Bayswater in April 2032 and the surrounding coal mines.
He said that changed following a community presentation by AGL and BHP. It was there that Mr Lanesbury said he realised there was potential to create new jobs at projects such as the new industrial hub that is coming together on the site of the former power station.
"I think there were a few other people who went in feeling quite pessimistic who came out feeling a bit more optimistic about the town's future," he said.
University of Newcastle social researcher Hedda Askland will be in Muswellbrook on Tuesday to witness the demolition of the Liddell stacks.
Associate Professor Askland has been examining the factors that shape a sense of home, identity and belonging among people facing significant social, political and environmental changes.
"The power station closed three years ago, but when the stacks come down it will make it materially real for the whole community," she said.
"It's going to bring the future into the present."
While Muswellbrook is widely associated with coal mining, Professor Askland said she discovered during her research that power generation was an equal source of community pride.
"All sorts of community life and some family life has been structured around the power station for more than 50 years. That's three generations," she said.
"People associate their town with power generation and they speak with great pride about the fact that they had helped power the nation all for all these years."
For the Liddell demolition, AGL has partnered with CMA Contracting and Wellanbah Industrial, which also managed the demolition of Hazelwood power station.
Milliseconds will separate the detonation of the charges. The southern stack will fall to the north-east and the north stack will fall to the south-east.
It will take about 10 seconds for each 170-metre stack to hit the ground.
