The demolition of some towers, like Fostoria's JACKSON ST, come as a surprise. On the other hand other tower are clearly on the pah to the wrecking ball and it is not a matter of "if" but "when" and the former Michigan Central's BO tower in Kalamazoo was most definitely in the later category. In operation for a mind boggling 128, a history of the tower was discussed in my post covering its closure back in 2016. Although BO was owned by Amtrak and/or the State of Michigan as part of the Wolverine Corridor, at the time when the door was locked and boards went up on the windows, it was mentioned that the interior equipment like the model board and interlocking frame were destined for the Henry Ford museum in Detroit. This is when it became clear that there were no serious efforts underway to preserve BO tower.
Honestly I would have been surprised if there were. The tower was built in 1888 and constructed of wood. It would have needed a pretty serious preservation effort to keep it intact (although the roof was replaced in 2006). Second, the tower could not be preserved in situ as it was just feet from TWO active tracks, one an Amtrak route with multiple daily train movements. Third, unattended wooden structures in an urban area catch fire, full stop. See what happened to SHORE tower just a few months ago. Fourth, there was no obvious rail museum to relocate the tower to in the immediate area. Finally, the removal of the interlocking frame (if it was actually removed) would have fatally compromised the structure. Remember, preservationists tried to move MO tower in Cresson, PA but it was just too weak and immediately fell apart. All of these factors working together sealed BO tower's fate.
Preserving BO tower would not have been beyond the pale. Tower B-12 in Franklin Park is pretty much the same type of structure and was moved to a nearby park, but it does not seem that Kalamazoo has the enthusiast community on hand to take on such a project. Kalamazoo, where my maternal grandmother is actually from, is still part of the rust belt and there just isn't a lot of downtown civic energy available for these types of projects. Because of my family connection I will be certain to visit Kalamazoo in the upcoming years. It's a shame BO tower will not be there waiting for me.
UPDATE: According to this video, the lever frame in BO tower was NOT preserved and was generally ripped up in the demolition process. Not sure if it went to a scrap yard or if a collector was able to snag it. It also appears that there was a limited preservation effort that ultimately failed.
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