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Highlands Today
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Reopening Lake Placid Tower Being Explored
Jasmina MeyerHighlands Today
A focus group met Monday in Lake Placid to discuss the possibility of reopening the tower.
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Published: November 18, 2008
LAKE PLACID - There apparently is a lot of interest in reopening the Lake Placid tower to the public, but several questions have to be answered before that happens.
Depending on what those answers are, it may not be feasible to repair the landmark that opened in 1961.
A focus group to explore the issue of the tower met Monday with John Scherlacher, Highlands County's tourism director, at the Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce.
The main question is how much will it will cost?
The 270-foot structure does not currently meet fire codes. It is estimated that it will cost at least $200,000 - not including engineering fees -to make the tower code compliant.
Lake Placid contractor Bill Brantley, who attended the meeting, is going to try to meet with an engineer, electrician and a welder at the tower to get some kind of idea how much money will be needed.
A trip to the Citrus Tower near Clermont is being planned. The group would like to know, among other things, the admission charge and the maintenance costs.
Scherlacher will contact the Highlands County Historical Preservation Society to see if any funding such as grants would be available to offset the cost.
"Everybody wants it (to reopen)," said Debra Worley, a Lake Placid Realtor who also attended Monday's meeting. "It's so beautiful. You can't experience it until you go up there."
"It's a great project; it is a tourist attraction," Scherlacher said.
Although a large sign near the top of the tower says "Open," the tower has been closed to visitors for several years. No one at Monday's meeting knew for sure when it closed.
Tower owner Mark Campbell is agreeable to the idea of seeing it reopen, but he has said he does not have the money for repairs, according to the focus group. It was mentioned during the meeting that Campbell is concerned about liability.
The group would like to meet again in two weeks.
Bill Rogers may be reached at 386-5825 or wrogers@highlandstoday.com
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