Work to demolish a crumbling former pottery factory in Hancock County is nearing completion.

Since May, much progress has been made at the Taylor Smith & Taylor -- or TS&T -- pottery facility in Chester. But getting to this point has had its share of hurdles.

Workers couldn't safely enter the facilities before demolition, because they needed to test the soil and building materials inside the structure, which created a lot of unknowns.

"You can't put an accurate timeline on what you're doing because you don't know what you're going to be involved with and how you have to deal with that," said Frank Six, of Six Recycling, the local contractor which is demolishing the structure and cleaning up the area. "Everyone is just so happy this project is getting done, how it's getting done."

Two previous demolition contractors tried to dismantle the facility, but the state Department of Environmental Protection accused those companies of improperly disposing of building material and causing asbestos contamination.

As of Wednesday, the only signs of the old factory are the smokestack that now stands only 50 feet in the air and the pottery silos that will soon be gone.

"Next week, we're going to start taking them down. West Virginia (Department of Environmental Protection) just finally approved us to take them down and dispose of them," Six said.

The old smokestack that once stood 125 feet tall will continue to stand, for now. Officials said depending on how the property is developed, the owners may turn the stack into a memorial.