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The Emissary

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Star Tower - photo by Tim Erskine

 

Update: If you can make it, there is a meeting Sept14, 12:30, at the old town hall in Fish Creek with State Senator Lasee. People wanting to save the tower can have their say.

 

The design of Eagle tower is a model of engineering elegance, having withstood over one-hundred years of gale-force winds and throngs of enraptured visitors. I read the engineering report and spoke with the project manager at the DNR on the phone regarding the project. The report assumes a live load of 100 pounds per square foot for its calculations, a load the tower will never experience. This equals about 30,000lbs. of weight on the top level, equal to 166 people weighing 180lbs. each. There has never been, nor will there ever be 166 people on top of Eagle Tower.

 

Concluding the design of the tower is inadequate is like the aerospace engineers who calculated that a bumble bee should not be able to fly. Even accepting the engineering assumptions, restricting the hours of use and/or the number of people allowed at once on the tower, are both much better solutions than tearing the tower down.

 

Eagle Tower is a resilient structure like you would find on a space station and has performed brilliantly over the last one-hundred years. 

 

If you believe this icon of Door County is a lexus of shared inspiration and collective dreams, is of historical and cultural significance and should be repaired rather than demolished, take some action to express your wishes anywhere you can, i.e. letters to the editor. I will post early next week DNR contact information that you can express your wishes, but please don't wait only for that.

 

The point here is not to dispute that the Eagle Tower needs repairs, but that they should be done instead of demolishing the tower. Further, that if this is a matter of funding, then the community should be given the chance to fund-raise for this cause.

 

Why am I posting here? The Emissary movie has a scene shot on the top of Eagle Tower! We would hate for this scene to be the last one ever shot there. I took the award-winning photo above of Eagle Tower in April of 2011.