SAUGATUCK, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Dec. 27, 2024) – It has been nearly a year since the city of Saugatuck and AT&T entered into a monthly lease agreement for the former Mt. Baldhead Radar Station.
The San Antonio-based telecommunication company wants to use the site to improve cellular phone service along the Lakeshore, and the agreement approved by the city this past January 8th calls for a monthly payment of $2,150, at a annual increase of 1.5 percent, along with $85,000 for improvements to existing restroom facilities and for revitalizing the dunes near the tower’s staircase.
Since then, efforts have been bogged down by bureaucratic red tape, but AT&T’s External and Legislative Affairs representative for Michigan Tim Weststrate is confident that the proverbial cutting will be done soon.
The reality of turning the site into a new cell tower location may not be that far off.
Built by the US Air Force in 1956 during the height of the Cold War era, the tower was deactivated 12 years later and sold to the City of Saugatuck for $250. It is listed in the state’s Register of Historic Places, which has contributed to the red tape currently tying up this project.
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