 | | Gray Haertig lives beneath the tower he helped design. |
A very large, three-legged neighbor Monolith's designer lives under its shadow By Josephine Woolington A radio tower the height of a 60-story skyscraper makes a great neighbor. It doesn't throw loud parties. There are no barking dogs. Gray Haertig, 61, has grown fond of his neighbor, the Stonehenge Tower in Hillsdale. In a way, it is his offspring. As an engineer, Haertig helped design the tower in the late 1980s. Since 2007, he has lived as near as one can be to the orange and white striped monolith on Southwest Council Crest Drive. It looms over his house. Haertig has even painted the house's trim to match the tower's familiar aviation orange stripes. "Some people think the tower is ugly, or they're afraid of it," Haertig said. "But I kind of like towers." Built in 1990, the iconic colossus is the tallest self-supporting structure on the West Coast north of San Francisco. The tower's tubular legs - each 5 feet in diameter - make it a widely-seen city landmark. It broadcasts nine radio stations and is by far the largest among five radio towers in the Hillsdale and Healy Heights neighborhoods. But does a 625-foot radio tower really make a good neighbor? "When the tower was first built, some locals had problems with TV and radio reception," Haertig said. "Others complained that the tower was noisy and would reduce property values." Knowing his history with the tower, residents often contact Haertig with complaints. After 20 years, neighbors have grown used to having the tower loom over them. There are not as many complaints about noise or poor reception, according to Haertig. Still, some, like Jim Thayer, the former president of the Southwest Hills Residential League, have concerns. In the winter of 2009, Thayer was walking his dog below the tower when he narrowly escaped being hit by a falling ice chunk the size of a refrigerator door. The slab landed a mere 6 feet from him. Thayer doesn't want the area beneath the tower declared off-limits to neighbors, but he concluded they need to be warned of the danger. After Thayer's close call, he and SW Trails chair Don Baack recommended Southwest Hills Residential League and the City of Portland post more warning signs, which are now in place on Council Crest Drive and other streets near the tower. Baack said more signs are needed, especially on Fairmount Boulevard below the tower because the street attracts many pedestrians. And it isn't just pedestrians who should watch out for falling ice. In 2009, an ice chunk shattered a section of Haertig's roof. He considers that year an exception, and "by far the worst." Typically after snow and ice storms, warm air and rain thaw the ice on the tower and winds blow it into the wooded areas east of the tower. Rarely, do chunks of ice fall straight down from the tower, as they did in 2009, Haertig said. Haertig also pointed out that the tower is constructed to minimize ice formation. With its tubular legs and minimal horizontal supporting beams, the tower provides few places for ice to build-up compared to other radio towers. But some complaints require more than warning signs to address. When the tower was built, neighbors worried it would increase what is called radio frequency (RF) radiation in the area. All radio towers emit RF radiation, which is the same type of radiation associated with microwave ovens and cell phones. Former employee for the Environmental Protection Agency, Richard A. Tell, 67, said the public has a misconception of RF radiation. "When people hear the word 'radiation' they think of X-rays or nuclear radiation," Tell said. "But there is no solid research that suggests RF radiation is damaging to human health." In 1976, when Tell measured the RF radiation levels on Healy Heights for the EPA, he found them high. But after Stonehenge Tower was built, they went down. When broadcasting antennas are farther from the ground, Tell said, RF radiation levels become less intense. Haertig, who has also measured the tower's RF radiation levels, found them to be reassuringly well below the limits set by the Federal Communications Commission. So Haertig isn't worried. As far as he is concerned, he could have few neighbors as neighborly as Stonehenge Tower. Portland's 'Bridge Lady' turns her attention to the tower Sharon Wood Wortman is a fan of Stonehenge Tower. Since 1993, Wood Wortman, who is known by many as Portland's "Bridge Lady," has taught a summer class, "Bridge Building and Portland Bridges," at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Though the class focuses on Portland's bridges, Wood Wortman includes the Stonehenge Tower on her tour of, what she calls, Portland's "big and awesome" structures. "Like a bridge, the tower does a job," Wood Wortman said. "It carries important things from one place to another."
Wood Wortman, a Hillsdale resident who lives near the tower, said she always knows where home is because of the towering landmark.
By the end of the week-long class, Wood Wortman said, her fourth- and fifth-grade students begin to use the tower to help them know where they are in the city. The students lie on the grass below the tower and draw pictures of it. Sometimes, Gray Haertig, who lives in the shadow of the tower, gives students tours of the transmitter building near the tower and takes them underground to look up the tower's core. "Everyone is in awe before we finish," Wood Wortman said. Though Wood Wortman's class is full this summer, she hopes to teach it again next year. For more information about summer camps and classes, call (503) 797-4661. Or, visit the web site: http://www.omsi.edu/camps-classes | 
