this is the leaning tower of Niles Illinois and its story is outstanding this novelty
Tower was initially built to hide a water tank for outdoor pools thanks to its existence this
Chicago suburb now officially hosts a National Historic Landmark and has since become a sister
city with Pisa Italy but the road has been extremely bumpy as the tower's ownership has
changed hands on multiple occasions and much like its better known predecessor this leaning
tower has repeatedly faced such heavy structural damage and instability that it has closed its
doors and was nearly demolished so how did this all come to be today we discover the leaning
tower of Niles Illinois I'm your host Ryan so cash and you're watching it's history [Music]
let's start our tour in Niles Illinois which was officially established in 1899. back then
the area had already been home to businesses around the farmers trading routes for decades
and many suspect that the town's name was likely taken from a nationally distributed newspaper the
Niles register the city began growing in the 20th century after the Chicago surface Line
Street Railway was extended down to Niles allowing for an influx of immigrants from Chicago it was
around this time in 1908 that industrialist Robert ilg started the ilga electric ventilating company
although the company was located in Chicago Robert lived in Niles as did many of his employees and
according to his son Robert was highly focused on looking after their mental and emotional
well-being which is why in the 1920s he funded and built a recreational park for their benefit known
as ilger Park among the Park's amenities were two large outdoor pools which needed a sizable
nearby water tank to supply them both however the Visionary was concerned about how a massive steel
utility structure could ruin the area's otherwise natural beauty so he decided to build something
over the tank to hide it and being an admirer of Galileo chose that something to be a replica of
the Leaning Tower of Pisa construction began on the leaning tower of Niles in 1931. it ended in
1934 precisely 600 years after the Leaning Tower of Pisa had been completed and it was remarkable
you see the leaning tower of Niles is 94 feet tall with a 28 foot diameter and a lien of seven feet
and four inches the tower is made with 1200 tons of concrete reinforced by 32 tons of steel all of
which is supported by Precast stone columns the tower's lien is created by the columns on the
7th and 8th floors having differing Heights the leaning tower of Niles tapers towards the top with
the top floor having a diameter of 26 feet and although some might consider this replica to be
a bit tacky the Creator went to Great Lengths to ensure authenticity for example on the top floor
are five Bells imported from Italy now unlike the original Leaning Tower the leaning Tower of Niles
leans because it was intentionally built that way but that's not the only difference the Leaning
Tower of Pisa had problems with the foundation being unstable during construction causing it
to lean there are a few other differences between the Italian Tower and its replica in Niles another
key differentiation would be the obvious historic relevance of the real Tower the Leaning Tower of
Pisa has a very rich past finished in 1334 it's believed to be the place where Italian astronomer
Galileo performed his famous gravity experiments by dropping things off the top and timing how long
it took for them to fall proving that objects with different weights fell at the same speed
and then you have the actual purpose to consider the original Leaning Tower is a bell tower made
of marble not concrete and it has six bells in its chamber on the eighth floor as opposed to
the five in Niles all the same the leaning tower of Niles is pretty impressive this building is an
exact scale replica of its Italian inspiration with exactly half the height diameter and lean
as the actual Tower although construction on the leaning tower of Niles didn't finish until 1934
in 1932 company owner Robert ilg moved into the tower and began living there he stayed in that
tower for 17 years even after he had retired from his manufacturing company ultimately he moved to
California in 1949 to be with his wife six years before that in 1943 tours of the tower had been
shut down as the park fell into disuse now on the verge of Abandonment the tower became something
of a popular yet unsafe climbing destination it was clear to everyone that something needed
to change in 1960 the original owner sold four and a half acres of the park including the land
the tower was built on to the YMCA but with a condition the YMCA could only keep that land if
it agreed to spend at least 500 maintaining the Leaning Tower and its surroundings annually until
2059 they agreed and the Leaning Tower YMCA building was dedicated in 1966 however that
500 maintenance budget wasn't nearly enough even back then and as the years passed things began to
look grave the structural damage appeared across the tower the years drop and rise in temperatures
started cracking the concrete the tower was built with and its facade began to crumble climbers were
banned from climbing the Leaning Tower in the 1970s due to safety concerns the YMCA provided
an early estimate of the cost to fully repair the visible damage totaling 160 thousand dollars an
amount of money that a charity organization like the YMCA just couldn't provide hence the leaning
tower of Niles needed help the Village of Niles first began reaching out to the Italian town of
Pisa in 1985 hoping to establish a connection over the their Mutual Leaning Towers although Pisa did
not initially respond to the messages from Niles a shared sentiment eventually occurred when in 1989
the real Leaning Tower of Pisa also had to close down from structural damage prompting the people
of Pisa to reply in 1990 the towns of Pisa and Niles officially agreed to be sister cities and
made a pact to protect their respective Towers this publicity helped spur the city of Niles to
lease the Leaning Tower and its surrounding area from the YMCA and raised townsfolk money to help
fund a renovation the complete renovation and repair ultimately costing 1.2 million dollars
began in 1995. this renovation was thorough as the towers cracking and crumbling concrete was
repaired new lights were added to each floor there was also a plaza constructed around
the outside of the tower fully landscaped and including four fountains a 30-foot reflecting
pool and a telephone booth the renovations were finished and the leaning tower of Niles
was officially dedicated in 1997. the town in Niles had previously hesitated to fully claim
ownership for the tower as that would make the city financially responsible for any damage but
they also didn't want their town to have a dangerous crumbling Tower So eventually they
took on the burden even as recently as 2013 the town couldn't provide funds because of the YMCA's
ownership so in 2015 the Nile City Board took the plunge and bought the Leaning Tower and its
surrounding Land from the YMCA Renovations began Anew as a part of those Renovations The Village
hired appraisers to examine the bells at the top of the tower and they discovered that three of the
five bronze Bells were not only cast in caveso Italy but are a couple of centuries old while
the renovations were ongoing the Village of Niles began petitioning the federal government to have
the Leaning Tower added to the National register of historic places and in 2019 those requests were
approved making the Leaning Tower a National Historic Landmark but if you'd like to visit
this Tower you're out of luck although there were plans to reopen for tours in 2020 no one's
allowed inside now don't worry if you'd like to know what's inside I've prepared a little tour
the leaning tower of Niles can be found at 6300 West Tui Niles Illinois it has eight total floors
each completely encircled by arches and the exterior stairs go up between the outside of
each floor in a spiral staircase is hidden in the middle one of the eight floors is a Bell
Chamber with five bronze Bells some of which are 400 years old none of which have rung since 1964.
in old photos of the leaning tower of Niles an American flag is flying from the roof which
several others have since joined hidden in the basement is a water tank for outdoor pools for
which the entire Tower was built to keep the park looking beautiful the hole structure is precisely
one half the size of the Leaning Tower of Pisa although the tower has faced a lot of danger over
the years the Illinois Landmark has endured just like the original startling and delighting anyone
passing through the Village of Niles now in the hands of the town that houses it the leaning tower
of Niles will stay well kept Standing Tall proud and crooked for many years kind of like that New
Jersey water park that had a looping water slide if you'd like to know why that's a horrible idea
click here and please consider subscribing until next time I'm Ryan sokash signing off