Perhaps the most visible of Ohio's "abandoned projects" (on a clear day one can see both it and downtown Cleveland from the Ohio Turnpike bridge over the Cuyahoga valley),  I remember the Cuyahoga Falls tower as being planned as similar to the Seattle Space Needle, except even taller than the Terminal Tower.  Because the city was going to try to block it, it was built at 20 feet per day.  In late 1971, it grew to 494 feet tall in only 22 days...then stopped. 

 

It was bought for $30,000 and is currently being used as a cell phone tower.  It's probably inevitable that it has a couple of off-color local nicknames.   :evil:

 

Well, that's quite interesting actually. 

Just $30,000?  If it was available again, I would buy it and live at the top. Or, if there is no elevator, the bottom.  And I would eat at the buffet at the base of the tower everyday.

"It's probably inevitable that it has a couple of off-color local nicknames."

 

Rex's Erection is the most popular.

I believe there was an auction for the tower.  The purchaser is essentially Kriegers Market which has a nice vantage point of the tower.  The whole intent with the purchase was to market it as a communications platform.

 

 

Just $30,000?  If it was available again, I would buy it and live at the top. Or, if there is no elevator, the bottom.  And I would eat at the buffet at the base of the tower everyday.

 

Yes, the Cathedral Buffet is quite awesome.

i definitely learned something today, thanks.

I grew up in Cuyahoga Falls. It used to have a restaurant in it. It looks like a giant smoke-stack to me. It was sort of a navigational tool when you were around town. You can see it from Cleveland??

I grew up in Cuyahoga Falls. It used to have a restaurant in it. It looks like a giant smoke-stack to me. It was sort of a navigational tool when you were around town. You can see it from Cleveland??

 

Probably from a high enough building (though you might need binoculars).  You can see it and downtown Cleveland at the same time from the Turnpike bridge on a clear day.

I really wish they would finish this tower. Does anyone know if there are original plans out there to show what it would have looked like if completed?

What is the current height of this tower of Babel?

Somebody spoofed that song G-l-o-r-i-a Gloria, spelling E-a-r-n-e-s-t and making fun of Earnest Angeley.  I heard it on commercial radio a long time ago.  Probaby WONE 97.5

I read an article somewhere that said the height of the tower is currently 750ft.

^The completed height would be about 750 feet - as it is, it's about 550ish feet.

Oops! Didn't read the first article. It says that they stopped construction after 22 days at a height of 494ft. I think the least someone could do is paint it or something instead of making it look like some useless tower of concrete.

I think the least someone could do is paint it or something instead of making it look like some useless tower of concrete.

 

I think "useless tower of concrete" was its originally designed purpose, though.

yeah are there any renderings of what was originally proposed?

I have looked all over the web for renderings but haven't found anything. I'm curious if the Cathedral would have anything in regards to the design. Anyone think it will EVER be completed?

 

 

I know this is an old post but I'll toss in that I read that they never got the required permits to be able to construct it with a restaurant on top, which is why it ended unfinished.  I'm dubious that there would be much interest in that location for that type of development in this day and age, and I presume if Earnest was interested in pursuing it he would have already done so.  Really, aside from owning Channel 55, that church is very low key these days.

I would like to add my speculation:

 

I have heard that the concrete they used wasn't poured right/cheap/wrong and had to stop because of that. 

Is that adjacent church facility still in use..the one Rex used?

indeedy!

 

http://www.ernestangley.org/church/

 

He seems so outdated I would be curious just to see who shows up to a service.

^ Wait!!  You mean Rex is still doing the services? I would go for kicks just like I did when I went to see Ernest Angely.... Now this guy looks like a cat is sleeping on his head with that terrible wig!

As far as the reason why it was never completed, it was to have a revolving restaurant at the top ala CN tower in Canada.  I guess they were in such a hurry to build the thing that they didn't take into consideration the water pumps needed to be able to pump water up.  Not sure if it was a matter of the pumps they designed were too small or it was an afterthought and couldn't be put them into place once it was built.  So truly a white elephant..

I may be dusting some cobwebs off this old thread, but with the grand opening of Portage Crossing and the new energy and interest it is injecting into this formerly popular and once well-traveled area of Cuyahoga Falls, I wonder if some developer might take another look at this tower and at finishing it?

 

I'm sure it's a long shot now, and there would probably be some structural issues to address, but completing it and adding the rotating restaurant that was originally intended to go on top would certainly add a bit more character and culture to this revitalizing district. It certainly would become a unique destination and attract tourism as well.

Towers were all the rage then. I wrote this piece about Youngstown's once proposed attraction: http://urbanup.net/2012/12/12/youngstowns-space-needle-proposal/

 

 

The one in Newport, Kentucky got cancelled and all that was built was a tiny stub and a structure to house the world peace bell.

I may be dusting some cobwebs off this old thread, but with the grand opening of Portage Crossing and the new energy and interest it is injecting into this formerly popular and once well-traveled area of Cuyahoga Falls, I wonder if some developer might take another look at this tower and at finishing it?

 

I'm sure it's a long shot now, and there would probably be some structural issues to address, but completing it and adding the rotating restaurant that was originally intended to go on top would certainly add a bit more character and culture to this revitalizing district. It certainly would become a unique destination and attract tourism as well.

 

I feel like any development that could give more attention to Ernest Angley Ministries would probably not be a great investment.

 

^ Wait!!  You mean Rex is still doing the services? I would go for kicks just like I did when I went to see Ernest Angely.... Now this guy looks like a cat is sleeping on his head with that terrible wig!

 

hey i did that too. except instead of old ernest, i once went to a pentecostal tent service in kentucky. the kind where they speak in tongues, pull bloody somethings out of people and pass the plate around a bazillion times. it was a really special experience.

Bumping an old thread, but I found an article on Ohio.com (http://www.ohio.com/news/local-history-cathedral-tower-could-have-been-something-big-1.233316) that had renderings of what the tower would have looked like if it were completed...

 

 

For some reason, Ohio.com posted the picture of the observation deck upside-down...

Great find.

 

Mrs. Humbard looks like she's on some pretty serious anti-anxiety medication, or visited Stepford.

So basically Calgary Tower II

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary_Tower

Always thought this should be finished and promoted as the best way to view the entire northern stretch of the Ohio-Erie Canalway Heritage Area and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Guess all it takes is money....

So basically Calgary Tower II

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary_Tower

So that's why the tower was never finished. The people of Calgary threatened to sue for plagiarism. :D

Always thought this should be finished and promoted as the best way to view the entire northern stretch of the Ohio-Erie Canalway Heritage Area and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Guess all it takes is money....

 

Just build one in Cleveland and you could look down that way from the north... :)

Ever since I was a kid, I've always dreamed of doing something with that tower.  I sketched this a couple of years ago and showed it to Mike Kreiger (who owned it until he recently passed away), and he told me that the revenue from the cell towers was so profitable that it didn't make sense to do anything else with it.  I was hanging out with neighbors a few weeks back, and their idea was to have Tolkien nerds from all over the world crowd-fund a replica of Isengard to be built around it! LOL

 

Maybe I should do a realistic rendering of this sometime, and see if using the new real estate crowd-funding sites could help turn this eye-sore into something beautiful ...

Welcome, wildziner!

 

Nice artistry and concept!