If you lived in the Mankato, MN area in the 70's and 80's you were well aware of this landmark.
In about 1971 some guy had the brilliant idea that this concept was the wave of the future.
People would purchase a mobile home and a crane would slide it between the concrete supports. Then when they wanted to move, a crane would drag it out of it's nest and they would put wheels under it and haul it to it's next concrete and tin highrise.
Well, the idea flopped. Once those babies were put in they stayed until they fell apart and torn down by the city.
I will say that I knew someone who rented one while we were going to college. They were pretty nice inside until the winds blew. At that point it got interesting. They would shake, rattle and almost roll. Propped fifty feet in the air made the pucker factor rise several notches.
About the only thing nice about that place was the fact that all you had to say was Tornado Towers and everyone knew what part of town you were talking about.
Thanks to my brother-in-law Chris for sending me this picture to show you.
Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"
18 comments:
Thanks for posting that pic. I'v searched for the Tornado Towers with no luck.
Thanks for posting!
I went to Mankato State in the middle to late 90's and I used to hear crazy stories of this place from cab drivers and loadies from the Oleander. 427 Warren and Morningwood thanks for the good times!
I attended Mankato State in the 80's and my friend lived in the towers, he told me when it was windy the unit would shift and creak. The place was a death trap. People were amazed a trap like that was legal to have people live in. I would drive by the towers everyday on my way to campus just to see if they were still standing.
In theory it wasn't a bad idea at all. Considering construction costs & such it would make perfect sense.
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Of course that is just theory though.
Dudes! I lived in the towers my sophomore year at MSU, as it was known then. That was 1981-1982. I even stayed on for a summer class. You can see the one I lived in from the photo. It is the bottom back left unit, the one with the caution tape in front of it! Ha!. I was famous just for living there. Our parties, held in the center of the buildings, had a post apocalyptic terminator feel and drew people of that mind set to them. They were not great parties and I can only remember throwing one. They were nuts to live in. The creaking rattling and groaning were very real. At that time there were NO other buildings on that side of the road. The land was the former site of the county airport and wind swept is an understatement. Part of the old airport pavement was right outside the back of our unit to the east. That winter our pipes froze twice, burst once flooding the place, AND for one long week of 40 below with 40 MPH wind it never got above 30 degrees INSIDE. Every door and crack had a pile of wind driven snow INSIDE the trailer. My THREE roommates and I sleep over the furnace vents just to keep warm. And that air was just about body temp by the time it reached a vent just a few feet from the furnace.
I'll never forget my year there with my greek roommates and Winston the English Bull Dog that died that summer in the 90+ heat, stupid trailer anyway. Dave Orr class of 1984, Geography and Environmental Studies.
I spent some time in the Towers as well in the 80s.Nice place to have visited but would not have wanted to stay there for any period of time.
South Street Salon was my hang out.
I lived in tornado towers in 1979--bottom level which was pretty nice as long as you didn't think about what was up over your head. Had some friends who lived on the top level and it got pretty crazy when the wind would blow. There was a lot of sway and a lot of cool air leaking through in the winter. Moving along the walkways in the winter with the ice and wind was awfully scary!
I was just reading on MSN about people designing buildings out of shipping containers--basically the same concept as tornado towers. Apparently the idea is still considered viable by some.
I lived in the third one up in the front like a year or two before they were torn down! :) good times!
My buddies and I (all members of the MSU Mens Basketball team) lived there in 1988-1990. Also during that time, one of the Frats had a house there along with some Hockey guys. This place was not that bad and the best part is that it was Cheap. I remember having to re-light the pilot light on the furnace about 20 times during the Winter.
If im not mistaken the towers had an elevator! it was pretty flimsy too if i remember right. Quite a memorable landmark near the MSU campus.
I don't remember any elevator. I do remember having to carry the sofa and other furniture up the rickty stairs. The unit was the top floor back. The living room had a hole in the floor that we used as a pass through to the girls below. The weather inside during winter was vicious you could feel the wind coming through the walls.
The towers DID sway a bit in the breeze! I grew up in Ktown, TT's were known for being "Party Central." Thanks for posting a pictures-I couldn't find any online! Now, if anyone remembers the old Burton Hotel that was torn down in 1986 to make way for the current Mankato/North Mankato bridge, you KNOW you're from Mankato! That's old school renovation, right there!
I lived there (3rd floor) as a grad student in 1990-1991. I wasn't afraid to live there :-). Staying close to campus and saving money was more important :-)
Sri
I never loved there but we sure played in there. We loved down the road and on the way to Happy Dan's we would play on the elevator we thought it was a fun place ... Sidewalks in the air.
Turns out like everything else in Minnesota, this sucked.
I'm glad that there is still a picture of this available. My wife didn't believe that such a thing existed. Of course those of us who went to college in Mankato at the time didn't really believe it either.
The engineer who came up with the concept behind Village Towers (Tornado Towers, so named because the swastika shape of the building caused a vortex in the core at all times)passed away a few years ago. The suggestion that people were to buy mobil homes and move them in and out is simply false. The units were made in Stratford Wisc. and were intended for that structure and no other (note that all the units are identical). The concept did allow for replacement of the units when they were worn out. The concept was to create a system that would have very little on-site construction time. Village Towers was never completed; the project ran out of money and the engineer ended up owning a portion as his "pay". The building was supposed to be fully enclosed and none of the individual units or the concrete structure would be visible. The thin sheet metal siding was only intended to get the units through transport and construction. The walls of the units were a bit shaky as they were not designed to be left exposed to the wind. Any comments about the main structure of the building swaying in the wind is just hooey, but the units certainly shook within the structure. When a storm tore sections of roof off of Homestead and Devonshire apartments the towers suffered almost no structural damage (I spent some time screwing back down all the loose sheet metal though). There were design flaws; the water heaters were only accessible from the outside (4 stories above the ground on a narrow concrete ledge). After the earthquake in Nicaragua in 72 the same system put many people back in livable conditions within months (I don't remember how many buildings they put up).
Lived at 427 warren your welcome
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