I am beginning to think that Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District has a quiet agenda for removing the Mount Umunhum radar tower: Just let it deteriorate until it cannot be saved. Then shrug and demand that the peak be cleared.

Too cynical, you think? Possibly. But listen to the story of what’s happened over the past two-plus years. In October 2012, the Midpen board, the reluctant landlords of the tower, gave the 52-year-old landmark a stay of execution.

In a grudging nod to public opinion, the Midpen directors gave the tower’s boosters five years to raise the money to restore the structure. They also set aside nearly $415,000 for so-called “interim repairs” that would keep the concrete landmark from collapsing.

In May 2013, the board let a contract to a company to prepare documents for the work. The job wasn’t bid until this past summer, more than a year later. And it was more costly than expected.

After initial bids came in too high in August — the lowest was $765,000 — the board rebid the contract in two parts and reduced the scope of work. That came back at a total of $561,000, still too high. The board has directed its staff to negotiate the bid downward.

Meanwhile, the elements are continuing to batter the old tower that served the Almaden Air Force Station (1957-1980). Water and freezing temperatures are doing sustained damage to the old concrete.

Fundraising tough

Because the repairs have not been finished, the folks who want to raise money to save the tower cannot have the kind of event they’d like for donors to visit the peak.

There are explanations for all this. Early on, Midpen officials said they did not intend to move on the tower repairs until after demolishing other Air Force buildings on the site.

The demolition contractor ran into a variety of problems, among them finding a hookup for electricity. And Midpen officials missed a critical deadline for avoiding work during bird nesting season.

Steve Abbors, the general manager of the district, told me by email that the district’s original schedules said the repairs would be done in the 2015-17 time frame — and that Midpen was actually ahead of time in planning the job. He said he still hoped to allow donor visits by this May.

But as the construction industry has bounced back in a resurgent economy, Midpen officials have had to reduce the scope of repairs.

Basim Jaber, the Mount Umunhum historian, told me the open space district plans to fill in openings on one side of the tower rather than all four.

Blind to history

Nor is that the only problem the radar tower boosters are facing. The Santa Clara County Planning Department is now sitting on a historical report by Jaber that was requested by the county’s Historical Heritage Commission.

That report goes into detail about what the tower meant to this valley. But the planners, mindful that Midpen officials have a different view, want a third party to break the tie. This is like a referee refusing to accept what everyone in the stadium knows.

The Mount Umunhum radar tower needs a champion, someone who can break through the bureaucratic stalemate. The deal made in October 2012, always just a political expedient offered by a board eager to get the public off its back, is in jeopardy. We shouldn’t lose a vital bookmark for the valley.

Contact Scott Herhold at 408-275-0917 or sherhold@mercurynews.com.