THE FAA TOWER, WHAT IS IT AND WHY IS IT IN THE PARK?

As anyone who has taken a walk through the Parade Grounds knows, there is a very large white geodesic dome-like structure on top of an even larger steel girder tower, sited on the highest point of the Park, at the very center of the row of historic Officers Row. Weird - don't you think? In addition to the white antennae ball, several other utility buildings (cell phone tower and microwave receiver) are at the base of the tower. All of this is wrapped in a sinister and imposing chain link fence topped by barb wire. At night, the compound is ablaze with sodium vapor streetlights, and is visible throughout the Parks surrounding forests.

In the 50's as the Soviet nuclear threat became of greater and greater concern, the need for detecting foreign intrusions increased. An antennae farm was built on top of the hill at Fort Lawton, sporting not one, but three dome-like structures. These are evident on old aerial photographs from the era. The two older domes were demolished at some point, leaving only current "modern" dome.

Specifics after that have been harder to come by until recently, when I learned that the site is currently one of 20 such FAA sites in North America. Built in the 50's and 60's the FAA developed a system of upward facing high altitude radar to monitor high altitude (30,000 feet) across the country. Currently, they are aging rapidly with the federal government yet to make a decision as to whether to upgrade (at a cost of billions) or abandon in favor of a mandatory transponder system in all jet aircraft in constant communication via satellite to a central monitoring system. A much better, cheaper and effecient upgrade to the current 50's era technology. Reportedly opposed by the private aircraft industry as a privacy rights issue.

The FAA site is one of the last significant military-related "inholdings" within the Discovery Park ecosystem. If the abandon option should come (within 20 years?), Seattle citizens should be in a position to demand return of that land to the citizens for use as open space - i.e. integration into Discovery Park - giving us one of the finest viewpoints in the City and making The Park one of the last true great places.