Demolition Of An Aviation Landmark

Geico266

Geico266

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Husker Nation, NE
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Geico
This is a sad day for those of you who have ever walked near, landed under the control of, or maybe even visited the OSH "Old Control Tower". Today, it is dust.

http://www.eaa.org/apps/galleries/gallery.aspx?ID=161


Anyone have any cool stories to tell about the tower? If only that tower could have written a book before it was taken down.

I want a brick from the old tower!
 
Why'd they have to tear it down? Where does it say yo can't have a tall building on the airport that's not a control tower?
 
Now where are people going to meet? On the west side of where the old tower used to be?




Geico266 said:
This is a sad day for those of you who have ever walked near, landed under the control of, or maybe even visited the OSH "Old Control Tower". Today, it is dust.

http://www.eaa.org/apps/galleries/gallery.aspx?ID=161


Anyone have any cool stories to tell about the tower? If only that tower could have written a book before it was taken down.

I want a brick from the old tower!
Click to expand...
 
Wow.. If that thing could talk.. The things that tower has seen could fill a million pages..

It would have been cool to leave it open. Charge $1 to go up and get a great view of the grounds during OSH.
 
What a missed fundraising opportunity for the EAA! Get volunteers to sort the bricks, and sell them at AirVenture.
 
Geico266 said:
I want a brick from the old tower!
Click to expand...

We've attended OSH for 27 years in a row. Each year we've taken pictures of ourselves (and then, later, our children) with the tower in the background. It's truly been a landmark in our lives.

EAA screwed the pooch soooo badly with this. Maybe it's just the marketing guy in me, but they could have EASILY raised $100K off the demolition of that grand old structure:

a) Last year, when the old tower was already closed, they could have sold tours during Airventure '08. I would have paid $20 to spend 10 minutes gazing down upon the show from that lofty perch -- a perch formerly reserved for the pink-shirted controllers.

b) Convert it to an on-field restaurant. I wonder how many tables they could have put inside the tower, and out on the balcony that ringed it? How much would YOU have paid for seating during the 7 days of Airventure? I'd have paid $100. I'm sure Zaug's would have figured out a way to make money slinging hash up there.

c) Selling bricks. Now that they have torn it down, why aren't they selling bricks? I'd have paid $25 for one.

Multiply this times hundreds -- or thousands -- of people, and the numbers add up very quickly. It's unlike EAA to miss such an easy trick...
 
Jay Honeck said:
EAA screwed the pooch soooo badly with this. Maybe it's just the marketing guy in me, but they could have EASILY raised $100K off the demolition of that grand old structure:
Click to expand...

They could have raised even more by keeping it open and charging $10-$20 a head to go up in it during the show.

Very sad to see it gone. :(
 
Trapper John said:
...
The excuse from the contractor about the bricks being contaminated with asbestos and not salvagable is probably complete BS, otherwise they just indicted themselves via their demolition method...
...
Click to expand...

I thought they did have lots of dibs on the bricks. Watch for the bricks to show up all over the place.

Of yeah, one of the UNC guys said he wanted one.
 
mikea said:
I thought they did have lots of dibs on the bricks. Watch for the bricks to show up all over the place.

Of yeah, one of the UNC guys said he wanted one.
Click to expand...

All kinds of people have been saying they *want* one, but I have yet to hear of any of them say they're going to *get* one.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
They could have raised even more by keeping it open and charging $10-$20 a head to go up in it during the show.

Very sad to see it gone. :(
Click to expand...

Problem is, they would have had to make reasonable accommodations for accessibility per ADA, which is one of the reasons they cited not doing exactly that.


Trapper John
 
Trapper John said:
Problem is, they would have had to make reasonable accommodations for accessibility per ADA, which is one of the reasons they cited not doing exactly that.
Trapper John
Click to expand...

How ridiculous. There are excemptions to ADA for historic preservation, are there not?

What a crying shame.
 
Jay Honeck said:
How ridiculous. There are excemptions to ADA for historic preservation, are there not?

What a crying shame.
Click to expand...

It kind of sounded more like an excuse to me, than a true barrier to making it happen, and there are exemptions to ADA accessibility (but the ADA interpretation book is now hundreds of pages). I think the biggest issue was that the County actually owned the old tower until the new tower was completed, then ownership passed to the contractor, so the EAA didn't really have any rights to the structure.

Even though it was less than 50 years old, the SHPO could have been approached and a good argument made for placement on the Historic Register. It's just a real shame we're all talking about this after the fact. :(


Trapper John
 
The ADA is not an issue for this building. Sigh, what disinformation we have here sometimes.
 
Jay Honeck said:
We've attended OSH for 27 years in a row. Each year we've taken pictures of ourselves (and then, later, our children) with the tower in the background. It's truly been a landmark in our lives.

EAA screwed the pooch soooo badly with this. Maybe it's just the marketing guy in me, but they could have EASILY raised $100K off the demolition of that grand old structure:

a) Last year, when the old tower was already closed, they could have sold tours during Airventure '08. I would have paid $20 to spend 10 minutes gazing down upon the show from that lofty perch -- a perch formerly reserved for the pink-shirted controllers.

b) Convert it to an on-field restaurant. I wonder how many tables they could have put inside the tower, and out on the balcony that ringed it? How much would YOU have paid for seating during the 7 days of Airventure? I'd have paid $100. I'm sure Zaug's would have figured out a way to make money slinging hash up there.

c) Selling bricks. Now that they have torn it down, why aren't they selling bricks? I'd have paid $25 for one.

Multiply this times hundreds -- or thousands -- of people, and the numbers add up very quickly. It's unlike EAA to miss such an easy trick...
Click to expand...

You too make it sound like EAA owned the tower.
 
That's heartbreaking... aside from its significance, it was just a really nice-looking tower. :sad:
 
roncachamp said:
You make it sound like EAA owned the tower.
Click to expand...

No, obviously they did not. However, they could have negotiated with the county, contractor, or whatever, to take posession of the demolished structure, or the bricks themselves. Now, someone will be paying for them to be shipped off to the landfill. What a shame.
 
nddons said:
No, obviously they did not. However, they could have negotiated with the county, contractor, or whatever, to take posession of the demolished structure, or the bricks themselves. Now, someone will be paying for them to be shipped off to the landfill. What a shame.
Click to expand...

Couldn't any other organization or individual do that as well?
 
flyingcheesehead said:
No, they didn't, but it could have been had for a very reasonable price. In fact, I got said price. While I don't remember the exact figure, it was in the $30K-$35K range.
Click to expand...

Any other organization or individual could have done it as well, but it's only EAA that's being criticized here for not doing it.
 
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