A Future for the BO Tower
Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 10:43 pm
Hello everyone, I'm new here on the forum but I thought to start out by sharing some information about the BO tower in Kalamazoo.
First of all, the BO tower is scheduled for demolition this September, but I've been working on a plan to save it. As most of you most likely know the tower was decommissioned in October of 2016. After this, the future of the tower was up to a decision by MDOT. After talking to several people from Lansing, MDOT has been looking for a future home for the BO since they knew it was going to be decommissioned. Now, here is where I need to clear a couple of things up. For a brief period of time the Henry Ford was looking at the building, but they did not show much interest after discovering the cost of transporting the building. Also, Henry Ford did not take and parts from the interior of the building but they were donated to the Vicksburg Historical Society. For those of you who don't know, Vicksburg sits about 20 minutes south of Kalamazoo and has a small historical village centered around their GT Depot. The parts from the interior were given to them when they expressed interest in the building because MDOT was worried about the possibility of theft or vandalism. While they did look into the building, they were deterred in the same was as Henry Ford.
So, now is the part where I come in. The building has been sitting for around a year with no real interest expressed in it. MDOT wants it gone before this year is over through one method of another. As it sits now, I have been in contact with MDOT who says that the building will be free to a non-profit and I've also been in contact with a house mover. Currently the price tag to move the building sits around $60,000 dollars, or at least that's what was quoted to Vicksburg. My plan is slightly different in that rather than transporting by truck I have contacted GDLK and they are willing to transport the building on a flatcar.
Now you're probably asking where is the tower being moved to? The plan right now is to relocate it to the Northeast corner of the diamond in Schoolcraft. This is the original location of Schoolcraft's interlocking tower which was built almost identically to the BO tower, just smaller. The plan for the building is to convert it to a train watching spot here in Schoolcraft. It will hopefully have a small seating area in the upper story with some type of Coffee shop located in the lower story to provide refreshments. The interlocking machine will be restored and all 360 degrees of windows returned.
Currently I am working with Dietz Movers out of Muskegon, MI to disassemble the building and load it onto the GDLK flatcar. It will be transported in the same way as the Miller tower in Martinsburg, West Virginia where the tower is separated into four pieces: the roof, second floor, first floor, and then interlocking machine. Unfortunately the exterior of the building is presenting a problem because it is covered in asbestos siding which has been on it since the 50s. GDLK wants the asbestos removed before the building is transported so I'm working on hiring a contractor to do that. Another difficulty is that Amtrak requires specific permits in order to visit and a flagger to be onsite which totals to about $2,000 per visit to the building. The most expensive part of this process is going to be moving the building to its new location.
This is about where the project is at at the moment. The tower is secured, transportation methods are in place, and a future property is secured but funding is going to become an issue. Beginning in June I am starting a campaign through a site called Patronicity. Through this site, I am able to have any donated funds matched by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation which is a great help. I wanted to get his out now to raise as much support as possible so people are ready when the campaign starts.
I'm reaching out to you, the railfan community, because I know how important the history of the railroad is to all of you (and to me!). If the funding can't be raised to move the tower by this fall, I have been told that MDOT plans to demolish it. Please reach out to anyone else you feel might be interested or anybody who may be able to make this project become a reality. So, I hope that you all find it encouraging knowing that the tower can have a future in Kalamazoo and may not go to a landfill!
If anyone has any questions, comments, of information that may be useful to this project you can either post it here or email me at doornjager@gmail.com
Thank you all in advance!
First of all, the BO tower is scheduled for demolition this September, but I've been working on a plan to save it. As most of you most likely know the tower was decommissioned in October of 2016. After this, the future of the tower was up to a decision by MDOT. After talking to several people from Lansing, MDOT has been looking for a future home for the BO since they knew it was going to be decommissioned. Now, here is where I need to clear a couple of things up. For a brief period of time the Henry Ford was looking at the building, but they did not show much interest after discovering the cost of transporting the building. Also, Henry Ford did not take and parts from the interior of the building but they were donated to the Vicksburg Historical Society. For those of you who don't know, Vicksburg sits about 20 minutes south of Kalamazoo and has a small historical village centered around their GT Depot. The parts from the interior were given to them when they expressed interest in the building because MDOT was worried about the possibility of theft or vandalism. While they did look into the building, they were deterred in the same was as Henry Ford.
So, now is the part where I come in. The building has been sitting for around a year with no real interest expressed in it. MDOT wants it gone before this year is over through one method of another. As it sits now, I have been in contact with MDOT who says that the building will be free to a non-profit and I've also been in contact with a house mover. Currently the price tag to move the building sits around $60,000 dollars, or at least that's what was quoted to Vicksburg. My plan is slightly different in that rather than transporting by truck I have contacted GDLK and they are willing to transport the building on a flatcar.
Now you're probably asking where is the tower being moved to? The plan right now is to relocate it to the Northeast corner of the diamond in Schoolcraft. This is the original location of Schoolcraft's interlocking tower which was built almost identically to the BO tower, just smaller. The plan for the building is to convert it to a train watching spot here in Schoolcraft. It will hopefully have a small seating area in the upper story with some type of Coffee shop located in the lower story to provide refreshments. The interlocking machine will be restored and all 360 degrees of windows returned.
Currently I am working with Dietz Movers out of Muskegon, MI to disassemble the building and load it onto the GDLK flatcar. It will be transported in the same way as the Miller tower in Martinsburg, West Virginia where the tower is separated into four pieces: the roof, second floor, first floor, and then interlocking machine. Unfortunately the exterior of the building is presenting a problem because it is covered in asbestos siding which has been on it since the 50s. GDLK wants the asbestos removed before the building is transported so I'm working on hiring a contractor to do that. Another difficulty is that Amtrak requires specific permits in order to visit and a flagger to be onsite which totals to about $2,000 per visit to the building. The most expensive part of this process is going to be moving the building to its new location.
This is about where the project is at at the moment. The tower is secured, transportation methods are in place, and a future property is secured but funding is going to become an issue. Beginning in June I am starting a campaign through a site called Patronicity. Through this site, I am able to have any donated funds matched by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation which is a great help. I wanted to get his out now to raise as much support as possible so people are ready when the campaign starts.
I'm reaching out to you, the railfan community, because I know how important the history of the railroad is to all of you (and to me!). If the funding can't be raised to move the tower by this fall, I have been told that MDOT plans to demolish it. Please reach out to anyone else you feel might be interested or anybody who may be able to make this project become a reality. So, I hope that you all find it encouraging knowing that the tower can have a future in Kalamazoo and may not go to a landfill!
If anyone has any questions, comments, of information that may be useful to this project you can either post it here or email me at doornjager@gmail.com
Thank you all in advance!