Towers Towering Over Wind Towers
For almost seventy years the four silent sentinels of strength that are the towers at the old Blimp Base have stood guard over the remains of the WWII era NAS Hitchcock.
Today the old meets the new as the towers stand silent guard over a more modern tower – the stored components of 21st. century windmill technology.
The wind energy that seemed so viable a year ago is suffering from the same downturn in the economy that is affecting all other forms of energy. Many windmill units are manufactured overseas and were already in the supply pipeline as the wind farm developers began to place projects on hold – even T. Boone Pickens recently announced that he had shelved his plan for wind farms in West Texas.
As the towers arrived in Galveston and their final destination in question, storage problems developed at the Port of Galveston. The challenge was to either find a local place where the towers could be stored economically or re-direct inbound ships away from Galveston to other ports. In the post-Ike environment it is important to retain as much shipping business as possible at the Port of Galveston; losing business to other ports was not a good option.
Joe Wilburn, owner of Blimp Base Storage, stepped forward and offered enough inexpensive space to store these units. With hundreds of acres of hard packed, well-drained, stabilized ground the Blimp Base was in the unique position of having land available that could support the hundreds of tons that these units each weigh.
As the wind farm developers resume their plans the tower units will be transported to their final destination – and that could range from South Texas to California to the Dakotas or anywhere in between.
Until then these strong, silent sentinels will stand guard as they have done continuously since 1942.
(excerpts of above were published in the Galveston Daily News, August 2009)