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A proposed 80-foot-tall observation tower just doesn’t belong near the overlook parking lot on the southeast corner of Port Washington’s Upper Lake Park, aldermen said Tuesday, adding that alternative sites should be considered for the structure.
Among these locations, they said, should be the coal dock.
Aldermen weren’t the only ones skeptical of the location.
Julie Pfrang, 470 N. Powers St., passed out pictures of the view from her deck taken when the fire department ladder truck was extended to demonstrate the height and location of the proposed tower.
“I’m not opposed to the tower,” she said. “Just not in that location.”
Friends of the Tower spokesman and Port businessman Pat Poole was expected at Tuesday’s meeting but could not attend, City Administrator Mark Grams said.
The group had hoped to bring a representative of Jos. Schmitt & Sons Construction, which built a similar tower in Sheboygan in 2009, but he was also unavailable Tuesday, said Randy Tetzlaff, the city’s director of planning and development.
Aldermen said they would hold off on any decision about the project until the men are able to attend.
“I don’t think it’s fair to pursue this (discussion) until we have a representative of the people who want to do it here,” Ehrlich said.
But that didn’t stop officials from discussing their reaction to the fire department demonstration.
“I am not adverse to this project,” Ald. Dan Becker said. “I’m just not in favor of this location. I don’t think it works, and I want to look elsewhere.”
Becker, who was among the officials who went up in the fire department’s ladder truck recently to see the proposed view firsthand, said that while the vistas are impressive, “It wasn’t as spectacular as I thought it would be.”
There wasn’t a good view of downtown, he noted, but there was a good view of the wastewater treatment plant.
“I was hoping the bluff would hide the plant from view,” Becker said.
Ald. Dave Larson concurred with Becker, noting that the first things that jumped out at him were the wastewater plant, Lighthouse condominium building and the We Energies plant.
“I don’t know that that’s what we want to emphasize,” he said.
The city needs to develop an overall park plan that would outline which activities would be allowed in each one, Ald. Jim Vollmar said.
“I think this tower would be using that park in a way that wasn’t originally intended, which was as a picnic park,” Vollmar said.
Building an enclosed tower at the coal dock would be ideal, he said, noting it would help draw people to the lakefront even in the winter months when traffic downtown is limited.
Ald. Mike Ehrlich agreed that the coal dock should be looked at as a potential tower site, but said he believes Upper Lake Park could still be a good location if the design were modified.
“I think this location could work if it were architecturally more interesting,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be the highest in the state. It doesn’t have to be the standard tower.”
Ald. Burt Babcock compared the traditional wood structure that is proposed to a ranger station.
“I’m not sure that is really what Port needs,” he said.
Mayor Scott Huebner told aldermen that the views they were looking for are all available from the Light Station tower, and the city should emphasize that more.
“You can see the downtown from the Light Station,” he said. “You can see Milwaukee. Maybe what we need as a city, as a council, as a community, is to promote that more.”
Poole has said that the Friends group plans to raise between $300,000 and $500,000 to build the tower as a gift to the city and establish an endowment fund for maintenance. The structure would be an attraction for residents and visitors alike, he said, offering views that people can’t get anywhere else.
The vista would be available to people with disabilities through a camera mounted on the top that could be viewed on a monitor at the base of the tower, Poole said. A toggle switch would allow viewers to move the camera.
The park was selected as a site because it is visible and, as one of the city’s highest points, would likely offer some of the most spectacular views, he said.
The tower would be an attraction for residents and tourists, Poole said.
Aldermen emphasized their appreciation of the group’s efforts and the idea of a tower.
