New Radio Tower Atop Kennesaw Mountain Stirs Controversy
By Joe Kirby
August 2005

KENNESAW, Ga. – A new communications tower atop Kennesaw Mountain is more obtrusive than expected and is drawing criticism.

The 112-foot tower was erected in early May and is topped by radio equipment used by a variety of local public safety agencies, local hospitals, the National Park Service and utilities.

But it looks little different than a typical cell-phone tower. And though park officials promised it would be less visible than the four antennas it replaced, it turned out to be more visible.

The new tower rises an estimated 20 feet or so higher than the surrounding foliage near the top of the mountain and, to make matters worse, is on the side of the crest that faces nearby Marietta and Atlanta. Though the old towers could be seen from the base of the mountain by those with a practiced eye, the new tower is clearly visible from downtown Marietta several miles away.

That prompted grousing by local friends of the park and at least one sarcastic letter to the editor of the Marietta Daily Journal.

"I would like to compliment Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park officials for permitting the recent construction of the historically accurate cell phone tower atop Kennesaw Mountain," wrote reader Rick Schick of Marietta. "Now, as visitors stand on top of Kennesaw Mountain, not only the cannons but the cell tower can serve as a reminder of how the war was fought. Our children will be able to picture in their minds the Civil War soldiers making critical battlefield decisions and communicating with their loved ones back home on their cell phones. …

"Lest we ever forget, it is only through the liberal use of asphalt, concrete and steel that true historic preservation can be achieved."

Schick’s letter brought a quick retort from acting park Superintendent Dan Brown, who was not at Kennesaw when the decision was made to raise the new tower.

"The new tower is not a private cell phone tower, but is a public safety radio tower serving local county and federal public safety agencies including the National Park Service," he wrote the newspaper in response to Schick.

"The events of Sept. 11, 2001, revealed a critical need to upgrade the public safety radio site. The outdated site did not allow public safety agencies to communicate with each other during emergencies, was poorly protected and its equipment buildings were deteriorated and too small to contain the necessary state of the art radio equipment," he wrote.

Brown concedes that the new tower is more visible than the four old antenna towers that were clustered together, even though the top of the new tower is at the same elevation as the four old towers.

The new tower was placed further down the mountain, but as it turns out, the trees surrounding the new site are not quite as tall as those at the old site.

"Unfortunately, the tower height could not be reduced without sacrificing critical emergency services radio coverage," Brown concluded.

A spokesman for the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation sounded resigned to the new tower’s presence.

"We live in a world where sometimes tradeoffs with history, for the greater benefit of the community, are necessary," said the Trust’s Harry Hollingsworth. "The visual impact is greater, but the trade-off of reducing the height of the existing tower would mean putting at risk radio coverage the supports the delivery of critical emergency services."

The new tower actually is the third to top the mountain. The first was raised in the 1930s and included a fire lookout platform and radio equipment. It also featured a flashing Civil Aviation Authority beacon, likely as a result of the fatal crash into the side of the mountain of a U.S. Postal Service airmail plane in the 1920s.

That tower was replaced in 1984 with the four antennas that were, in turn, replaced this year.