An artist’s impression of the“rollercoaster”World Expo Harmony Tower that will combine the old with the new.

Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai will turn a 165-meter chimney at an old power plant into a state-of-the-art observation tower for the 2010 World Expo.

The building will demonstrate architectural prowess in combining advanced technology with the city's history - and to say that it is on track is a truism in more ways than one.

The chimney, at the eastern end of the Puxi side of the Expo site, where the old Nanshi Power Plant was located, will be transformed into the 201-meter-tall World Expo Harmony Tower.

It will be capable of handling 650 visitors every hour and will include tracks and cars similar to a rollercoaster that will wrap around the tower and take people to the top for a view of the skyline.

The century-old plant was closed last September.

Revamping the plant was a brainchild of the Expo organizers and is part of the "Urban Best Practices Area," which will showcase innovative ideas to enhance city living.

The Nanshi plant produced a lot of pollution when it was in use, but now it will become a venue showcasing how electricity can be generated by using wind, solar and tidal energy.

The renovation of old factories is one of the highlights of World Expo 2010 because in all previous World Expos, the construction work that had to be done involved the building of new, albeit temporary, pavilions.

Expo Mansion, where organizers work, stands on the Pudong side of the 5.28-square-kilometer Expo site. The area was once a textile-printing and dye factory that was originally built by French businessmen.

Planners will also turn 95,500 square meters of workshops and warehouses, or about 14 percent of the total area of the Expo site, into exhibition halls or public activity centers.

After the Expo, the venues will be turned into museums that feature both the history and the future of manufacturing.