Forgotten Traffic Circle Tower
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Could this towering structure be a half-built ruin from an alien planet? A giant upright artistic bottle opener? No, this overgrown, weather-worn white tower in a little-used traffic circle is a tribute to Eugene McCleary (1911-1998), former mayor of Colorado Springs. It was erected in 1973, which perhaps explains why it looks like something out of Logan's Run or Rollerball.
McCleary was a champion of the city's growth during his six years in office, particularly in the light industrial park where the towering monument stands. Hewlett Packard, Ampex, and other tech companies built facilities in Colorado Springs, which might also explain the tower's futuristic appearance. It was designed by Linda Craddock, the wife of the property developer who built the industrial park.
A plaque in front of the tower calls it a "landmark structure," and although it ostensibly is here to celebrate McCleary, it gets the years of his term in office wrong.