TOWER COMES TUMBLING DOWN

SCOTT CITY -- The ground shook in Scott City Thursday, but there was no earthquake.

City crews and other workers helped pull down an unused city water tower, the first of two towers city officials have decided to remove.

The 75,000 gallon tower, located at the corner of Warner and Broadway streets, came down at about 1 p.m. Workers had been preparing to pull down the tower since 8 a.m., cutting off one of the legs and several support cables.

Using a cable hooked to the top of the tower and a wrecker, the 55-year-old tower was pulled down onto a vacant lot with a loud crash, causing the ground to rumble momentarily. Part of the tower landed on a telephone poll.

People came out of their houses to watch the tower come down. City officials also watched the tower tumble.

"It came within two feet of where they said it would land," said Harold Uelsmann, the city's public works director, soon after the tower hit the ground.

"This is pretty rare," he said. "I've never seen something like this done before."

Uelsmann said the tower had not been used since 1988, because it was not elevated enough to fill some of the larger tanks in the city.

In December, the city hired Pittsburgh Tank and Tower Company out of Lexington, Ky. to bring down the tower and another one located between Cherry and Third streets.

A group of citizens who live near the towers signed a petition, asking the city to remove them. The residents said they were afraid the towers would fall in the event of an earthquake.

Ed Lewis, supervisor for Pittsburgh Tank and Tower, said it would take about three days for he and his three workers to take apart the tower and move it. He said they would take down the other tower in April.

The other tower will not be pulled down, but rather cut down in pieces, Lewis said. It will take about a week to dismantle the second tower, he said.

The company will be paid $15,000 to remove both towers. The city hired the company in December.