Flashback: Tower's removal stirred debate

The Pease Grain Tower still stirs public reaction nearly 15 years after its removal from the Burlington waterfront.

The tower, which was located at 10 College St., was approved for demolition on May 25, 2000, by the Burlington Planning Commission.

Mary O'Neil, senior planner for the city's Department of Planning and Zoning, said on Monday that delving into the tower's history was similar bothering a hornet's nest. O'Neil was not a planner for the city in 2000.

The tower was built in 1970 by the A.D. Pease Grain Co., O'Neil said. The company had operated at the site since 1913. The site was was previously owned by Smith's Feed Co., established in 1854.

On April 5, 2000, the city's Community and Economic Development Office filed paperwork for a permit to demolish the defunct grain tower.

The Department of Planning and Zoning had previously opposed demolition. In a April 12, 2000, letter to the Design Review Board, Mark Eldridge, Planning and Zoning director, said that the structure offered an opportunity for innovative reuse, such as a climbing tower or an observation point.

The tower's demolition proceeded anyway. The site has since been converted to a city parking lot.

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Contact Emilie Stigliani at 802-660-1897 or estigliani@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/EmilieStigliani.