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Downtown Milwaukee Hilton Tower

B

Brian Bowers

I'm getting the impression that the downtown Milwaukee Hilton Tower will be coming down soon (soon could be in the next year). I'm not exactly sure when it will be coming down, but I am noticing that Bustos Media has filed an application to move the fill-in 93.7 translator transmitter site from the Hilton tower to the 42 story US Bank building downtown. The reason being that the Hilton is decommisioning the tower on top of its building. It'll be interesting to see the Milwaukee downtown skyline without the tower someday.

Bustos Media FCC Application Modification
 
Yes, that would be a change to the skyline... but a welcome one. I have often felt that tower to be an eyesore, detracting from a historic hotel building. Good riddance!
 
I would agree with you. From an engineering standpoint, the Hilton (technically called the Hilton Milwaukee City Center) has not had it painted in decades. Speaking of an eyesore, it's now basically a black tower (and probably rusting). It hasn't been strobed either. Many times the sidelights are not lit at all. Thankfully at least the mid and top level beacons are still working. At one time on this tower, all three tower legs were lit with light bulbs running up and down each leg. Just like the TV6 tower in the city (had been lit the same way), it was determined at some point that the fixtures presented too much of a windload on the tower, and were eventually all removed from both towers. Even in the late 90's there was talk of bringing the Hilton tower down then, at a cost of over $100,000. I wonder what the price is now. Here's a picture of the roughly 340' tower:

Hilton Milwaukee City Center - Wiki
 
It’s the end of an era.

I recall a low power channel 7 TV transmitter located on that tower back in the 2000s. It has a hard null to the southeast to protect WLS in chicago. It went away after the digital TV transition in 2009. I don’t remember what it broadcasted. There may have been other stations located at this site, but those would have been before I lived there.

It appears it was originally constructed to host the CBS affiliate for Milwaukee. Broadcast range was said to be “50 miles of programming in all directions” Urban spelunking: Hilton rooftop antenna, removal of which will alter skyline
 
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