End of the road for Waltham radio towers
How do you take down a 360-foot radio antenna?
Very carefully.
Two of them along Route 128 in Waltham, just outside Watermill Center, were dismantled last weekend to make way for additional parking and eliminate what some consider an eyesore visible from miles around.
If you were a neighbor, I think you would be really happy to see them go, said senior property manager Jim Knights.
Installed in the mid-1970s, the antennas were primarily used by AM radio stations that broadcast from a building at 750 South St., Knights said. The last station left several years ago, but the antennas remained, secured by guide wires and lit at night to alert passing planes.
New Boston Fund, which owns and manages Watermill Center, later bought the property.
Crews from Northern Pride Communications of Topsham, Maine, finished dismantling both antennas on Saturday. But it was quite a job.
Riggers climb up the side of the antenna and use a winch to haul a gin pole to the top, which they use to take down the structure in 20-foot sections, Knights explained.
They deconstruct them from the top down, almost like an enormous tree, said Michaela Manley of Solomon McCown & Company, publicized the endeavor. Taking down the antennae will clear the way for 30 parking spaces, she said.
Theyre no longer used, said Knights. We just think its better for the neighborhood and it will open up the parking lot.
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