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Neighbors have started calling the 170-foot triangular structure at McKinley and Addison streets the “tower of power” or the “oil rig.” 

The recently erected police and fire communications tower at the new public safety building destroys views and hurts home values, they say. 

Moving the tower or breaking it up into smaller pieces would satisfy the Martin Luther King Jr. Way-Addison Street-Grant Street-Neighborhood Association members. 

But without an expert to back their demands for its displacement, MAGNA is having a hard time putting teeth into its fight against city hall. 

Councilmember Dona Spring, who represents the area, has placed an item on the 1,000-plus-page agenda for tonight’s City Council meeting, asking the city to allocate $10,000 to hire an expert in communications equipment to examine alternative sites or configurations for the antennae. 

“The city has a conflict of interest at this point,” Spring said, explaining that, having erected the tower at its present location, city staff will not objectively examine other sites. 

“I think they have not explained (the alternatives to) the full extent,” she said. 

Capital Projects Director John Rosenbrock says there is no conflict of interest for the staff. 

“We’ll do whatever we’re directed to do by the council,” he said. 

However, he argues that there is every reason not to move the tower. Moving it away from the security of the communications building site makes the tower accessible to vandals and distancing it from the 911 center increases the possibility of the loss of communication between the center and the tower. 

“Moving it to another neighborhood can create problems in that neighborhood,” Rosenbrock added. 

Staff estimates that moving or reconfiguring the tower could cost anywhere from $200,000 to $2 million. 

Although Spring’s item appears on tonight’s agenda, a public hearing on the tower is not scheduled until the May 16 council meeting.