This from the Kokomo Tribune:
BUNKER HILL, IN– The first air traffic control tower built in 1942 at Grissom Air Reserve Base is set to be demolished after officials say falling debris from the dilapidated structure is causing hazards at the base’s air strip.Jim Tidd, executive director of the Miami County Economic Development Authority, said the county had hoped to have the tower torn down by now, but the process has taken longer since the state’s Division of Historic Preservation and Archelogy, which is part of the Department of Natural Resources, recently determined the tower had historic significance.
That triggered a mitigation process that is required any time a government unit uses taxpayer money to significantly alter or demolish a historic property. Miami County must now come up with a plan, that the state approves, to make up for the loss of that history.
Tidd said they are proposing to put up a placard of some kind at the site of the tower, and also give copies of the original building blueprints to both the Grissom Air Museum and Miami County Museum.
Now, the county is going after state grant funding to pay for the demolition, which will likely cost over $250,000, Tidd said.
Once the state historic preservation office signs off on the mitigation plan, the county will apply for funding through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. Tidd said if all goes to plan, they hope to have the tower and buildings torn down by the end of the year.
The base’s current air traffic control tower was built in 2012 and replaced a second tower that was built in 1969. The $7.4 million, nine-story structure services both the military and civilian planes that land at the base on what is the longest runway in the state.