Baby Boomers know Clear Lake, IA as the place where “the music died” on February 3, 1959. A small plane carrying Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens, three of rock ’n’ roll’s most famous musicians at the time, crashed there while the stars were on the Winter Dance Party tour. The town is still a tourist destination and now a tower has popped up on one of the most iconic corners of Clear Lake, just steps away from the lake, and locals are outraged.
“Pretty poor spot to put it,” one Clear Lake resident told KIMT.com. “You could’ve put in several different places — it’s an eyesore.”
The goal of the city’s tourism bureau is to increase cell service during the summer months when Clear Lake’s population balloons. That’s “something that hasn’t escaped those who disapprove of the placement,” noted KIMT.com, but Clear Lake resident Kent Knorr still doesn’t like the tower. “It’s unique, it’s not really what I thought it was going to be.”
“It kind of sticks out like a sore thumb, but if you need it, you need it,” Knorr said.
“Definitely downtown with the park, and the seawall in the center of town, is a real focal point,” said Libbey Patton, the city’s tourism director said. “This can only help tourists when we do start to see them coming here. It’s going to really help to connect, use your phone, upload photos and share your experience.”
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