Before the Sculpture Garden was established in 2023 with support from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, this area housed two important pieces of industrial equipment.

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One was a Slag Granulator, a machine that ground slag into various sizes for use in concrete, insulation, and other products. A similar granulator can be seen near the #1 Furnace and Water Tower. 

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The second was a Recuperator, none of which remain at Sloss today. The adjacent Hot Blast Stoves were heated using reclaimed furnace gases. Rather than letting the heat escape through the smokestacks, the gases were diverted into the Recuperator, which captured and reused the heat to preheat the cold blast of air before it entered the Hot Blast Stoves. This process improved energy efficiency and reduced operating costs.