Group to restore Catskills fire tower [The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.]

Jun. 3—A historic fire tower could once again give panoramic views of the Catskills.

The Friends of the Bramley Mountain Fire Tower hope to break ground on rebuilding the tower in August.

The fire tower was in service for 25 years before it was decommissioned in 1970, Friends of the Bramley Mountain Fire Tower President Ann Roberti said. Pete Clark, of the Clark family farm on Elk Creek Road in Delhi, bought the tower five years later and had planned to put it up on his property, but his homeowners insurance wouldn't cover it, Roberti said. The tower has sat inside a barn on the property ever since.

"It's been in a barn longer than it was on the mountain," she said. "The Clark family is very enthusiastic about the project. They're very excited to see it rebuilt."

A group in the 1990s wanted to buy the property and rebuild the tower, but the owner of the property wouldn't sell it to the group, she said. The property is now owned by New York City and administered by the city's Department of Environmental Protection.

"The DEP has been a really helpful partner to us," she said. "It's such a benefit to the town of Delhi."

The Catskill Mountain Club designed and built the Bramley Mountain Trail, which leads to the summit where the fire tower once stood. The trailhead is on Glen Burnie Road in Delhi. Roberti said 3,300 people signed into the trail's guestbook in 2019. "It will at least triple when the tower is there," she said. "People come from other states to hike to fire towers. The New York State Fire Tower Challenge is an economic draw."

The organization is working with the DEP and the town of Delhi on some issues, including which access road a cement truck can take to pour new footers for the tower. Roberti said the organization didn't want to spend the money to test the current footers to then find out they are bad, so new footers will be poured near the current footers. The concrete will cure for two weeks before the tower is built, which should take about a week barring thunderstorms, she said.

Before the tower is built, all of the steel will be sent to be cleaned and galvanized, Roberti said. She said a few pieces have to be remade as they were crimped too tightly and the zinc didn't penetrate the bend when it was galvanized, but rain water was able to penetrate the bend and rusted the steel. All of the bolts, nuts and washers will also be replaced for safety reasons, she said. The group hopes to replace the steps with nonslip metal stairs and landings instead of pressure treated lumber.

"The benefits of the metal stairs is that in the winter snow falls through the holes," she said. Hikers in the winter also use microspikes, which would put holes in the wooden stairs, creating more wear and tear on the stairs, she said.

"We're trying to have as little maintenance-related costs as possible going forward," she said.

The goal is to have the fire tower rebuilt by Labor Day weekend when the annual Light the Fire Tower weekend takes place. Bright lights are placed in fire towers that weekend so people can see them from a distance.

The organization recently received a $25,000 grant from the Delaware County Economic Development Department, funded by the county's bed tax, and $25,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds from the county Board of Supervisors. Roberti said the organization still needs to raise $20,000 to get the fire tower built this year. People can donate online at bramleymountainfiretower.org.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at [email protected] or 607-441-7221. Follow her @DS_VickyK on Twitter.

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