Why would anyone want to put a structure taller than the Sears Tower in Crystal Lake?

One that could broadcast TV and FM radio when most people probably receive their television signals over a cable.

And pay $1.67 million an acre when McHenry County College just paid $67,000 an acre.

That’s almost 25 times market value.

How will BMB Communications Management make money from making it possible for people in fringe areas like McHenry County, where Chicago and Rockford TV and FM signals die out, to get a decent signal?

Don’t most of us use cable to get TV shows?

Maybe cell phone companies will use the tower to avoid local zoning fights like the one in Ken Bird Park. Not many lines of sight where a 1,500 foot tower couldn’t reach.

You will have to admit that an obvious answer as to why a Crystal Lake site was selected does not occur.

When I read that people could see fifty miles from the observation deck of the Sears Tower, the little wheels in my brain started whirring.

Crystal Lake is fifty miles from Chicago.

If signals can reach Crystal Lake from a broadcast tower that is lower than the one proposed on McHenry County College property, they can certainly reach Chicago from here.

And Milwaukee.

And Rockford.

And probably Madison.

Remember after 9-11 when the just-north-of-Madison, Fort Douglas Wisconsin National Guard unit (the 128th Air Control Squadron) set up a mobile air control system in Union?

Perhaps it was backing up perhaps the Elgin FAA facility.

Why not a more permanent back-up for the TV and FM radio stations broadcasting within range of a 1,500 foot tall tower?

If terrorists manage to take out broadcast towers in Chicago or Milwaukee, couldn’t a Crystal Lake tower replace them?

So, the next question is whether federal money is somehow being funneled into this project from the Department of Homeland Security.

If so, it might help explain the enormous price offered for the MCC property.

And, it might help sell the project.

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Since I don’t have any idea what the 1,500-foot radio tower will look like, thanks to Crystal Lake blogger Heck of a Guy Allan Showalter, you see the Eiffel Tower near the current Star 105 radio aerials.

The broadcast tower will be 41% higher than the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is 125 meters square. If my calculations are correct, that translates to 1,345.5 square feet or a structure that is about 36-36 feet on each side. Obviously a structure without “guyed” wires would cover more space.

The Crystal Lake FM aerial is an approximation to scale in both photo-shopped pictures. You can see the aerial in Chicago to the left of the Eiffel Tower.

The proposed broadcast tower will be three times the height on the radio antenna.