Facts about the KCTV5 Tower from its original construction to now

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Towering over the city since 1955, the 1,042-foot KCTV5 tower has been a familiar landmark and a symbol of Kansas City’s growth and innovation.

At the time of its completion in 1956, it was among the tallest broadcast towers in the nation and 18 feet taller than the original height of the Eiffel Tower.

Here are some of the facts about the tower when it was first completed:

• It was one of the tallest self-supported towers in the world; taller than the Eiffel Tower; taller than the Chrysler Building; twice as tall as the Washington Monument.
• The tower stands 1,042 feet above ground, 1,130 feet above average terrain and 2,049 feet above mean sea level. The antenna is 99 feet 2 inches tall and the tower and antenna together weigh 1,200,000 pounds.
• In building the tower, 800 cubic yards of concrete went into reinforced steel concrete footings. Six hundred tons of steel and 25,923 bolts were used.

• Some five miles of electrical wire in the tower connected 16 100-watt obstruction lights, 1,360 tower-leg bulbs of 25 watts each and five flashing 300-millimeter code beacons at three levels. There were five 1,000 beacon lights.
• There were seven catwalks on the tower and a telephone circuit at each light level. It took an average person an hour to climb to the top.
• The tower is used exclusively for television broadcasting and gave KCMO-TV (KCTV5) a greater range of reception than any television station in the Great Plains region.

Facts about the tower renovation:

• Gone are the obstruction lights and tower-leg bulbs. With the relighting, there are now 98 LED fixtures, which will illuminate the structure. Those will be powered by eight electrical circuits.
• Evergy has supplied a new 480-volt service for the project.
• A tower crew from Precision Communications in Grove, Oklahoma, was contracted to replace the tower fixtures, beginning their work in mid-June.
• The tower is painted aviation orange.