ALTO Tower Preservation Plans At Risk

It has been a decade since ALTO tower in Altoona, PA closed and after a conversation with persons directly involved in the process I have come to learn that the likelihood of its preservation seems increasingly remote. The good news is that there are currently no plans to demolish the tower by Norfolk Southern, however the previously touted move the tower in its entirety to the Railroaders Museum about a half mile to the east are unlikely to ever come to fruition due to the structural condition of ALTO tower itself. 

 

Immediately after the tower's closure there were two competing plans about how to preserve it. The first was to move the tower in its entirety in a similar process to the recent move of WB tower in Brunswick, MD. The second plan was to gut the tower of all internal components, strip off all of the architectural ornamentation and then reconstruct the tower from scratch. One of the advocates for the second plan expressed that his motivation to sacrifice the 1915 structure was due to it being fatally compromised by termites and requiring asbestos remediation. All up, full preservation and relocation of the 1915 structure would cost multiple times construction of a duplicate fitted out with the internal components and external ornamentation. It would also avoid the fate of MO tower about 10 miles down the Main Line in Cresson, PA that literally fell apart during a late 1990's effort to relocate the structure to a nearby railfan park due to compromise of the 100 year old wooden structure.

Nevertheless, higher-ups at the Altoona Railroadsers Museum decided on the full preservation plan and drew up a phone book sized document about the tower and the process (with more than a few of my photos included I might add). At this point the sizable cost of the preservation plan became a barrier to implementation along with whatever roadblocks NS would be inclined to throw up. In the following decade the tower has started to lose interior items to theft with the bank of glass timers being an early casualty. Although it is more secure than some of its peers, the wooden structure remains vulnerable to vandalism and fire. BTW I attempted to gain a PDF digital copy of the preservation document from the the individual I was speaking to, but he never followed up after I gave him my contact information. Hopefully he will become aware of my interest and reach out.

Let me be clear. I am not saying that ALTO tower is doomed to demolition or fire. It is immediately adjacent to a major roadway and could still be saved according to the 2012 plan. The point of this report is to provide the community with an update/explanation after the well known preservation plans seemed to go nowhere. I don't have independent verification of the claims expressed to me or independent analysis regarding the best course of action. The better option is absolutely relocation of the 1915 structure, but we should all be clear eyed about that not being possible. It's also unfortunate that the ideal option of preserving ALTO in situ appears to have never been on the table due to NS and liability paranoia.