A hometown tech mogul’s plan to turn a crumbling power plant in Norwalk into a massive public park, beach and event space is a big step closer to reality.

Crews just removed three multimillion-gallon oil tanks from Manresa Island on Long Island Sound.

“It’s a huge deal,” said Jessica Vonashek, executive director of the Manresa Island Corporation.

For six decades, Manresa Island was considered one of Connecticut’s “Sooty Six” power plants because of all the pollution it cranked out. The site has sat abandoned since 2013.

That is, until Austin and Allison McChord took a kayaking trip.

The couple saw Manresa Island and decided to buy it. They are planning a 125-acre public space – complete with nearly 2 miles of public shoreline, nature trails, a pool and indoor event space.

The new Manresa Island Park could cost up to $120 million. McChord is one of the few people with the resources to take on the project. He started Datto, a data security company that sold for $1.3 billion in 2017.

“They said it was crazy when I was building a business in Norwalk and ended up building that into a public traded company,” McChord said last October. “So this is just the other half of the same coin.”

Now, the project is taking a big step forward.

Removing the oil tanks cleared away 76,000 square feet of open space. The steel tanks were torn apart and sold for scrap metal, project leaders said.

“This is a milestone for the project,” Allison McChord said at a Friday morning press conference. “It may not look like much, but it’s a dramatic change to the site.”

Now, environmental crews can find out what toxins are buried underground and get remediation permits – a process that could stretch into next year. Organizers also need to inventory all the wildlife and vegetation on the site.

Vonashek hopes to open part of the property up to the public by 2027.

“Every day that I work on this project, I’m finding people in the community that have a personal connection to this site,” she said. “It’s amazing to be able to hear the stories about parents and grandparents sailing and people growing up in the harbor, being able to see the island.”

There’s still lots of cleanup left, especially on the inside of the 70 year-old plant. Architects have said the power plant is in surprisingly good shape, but the site is full of asbestos and coal ash, which could take years to clean up.

Remediation alone could cost up to $80 million.

A new nonprofit McChord created will bankroll the entire project, although the state of Connecticut is likely to help with environmental work.

“There’s not a dime of government money in this project so far,” said Fourth District congressional Rep. Jim Himes.

The project almost didn’t happen.

A New York City-based developer planned to build up high-end homes on Manresa Island, but the company agreed to sell it to the McChords.

“They're doing it – stepping up and doing it on their own,” said Gov. Ned Lamont. “Their only advice to me was, ‘Please get out of the way.’”

Developers plan to unveil new site plans, a new logo – and maybe even a new name for Manresa Island – at a public meeting next month.

It takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. on July 13, at The Cove in Norwalk.