In January 1992, Barnett Bank sold Placid Tower and the surrounding property to Lake Placid Tower Group Inc. for $240,000.
The new ownership group, represented by Mark Campbell, initially focused on the plaza rather than reopening the tower. Its first priority was renovating and leasing more than 14,000 square feet of office and retail space. Campbell said the observation tower would reopen only if it could be operated profitably.
The group remodeled offices and storefronts, repaved the parking lot, repaired the elevator and refurbished the tower. The businesses at the base received a new facade and fresh paint. Public interest soon changed the timetable. Campbell said his office received hundreds of calls from people asking when they could ride to the top again.
The tower reopened in September 1992. Admission was $3 for adults and $1.50 for children, with children under 6 admitted free. Sunny Ridge Groves operated the gift shop, citrus-shipping counter and snack bar. Other tenants included Feger’s Health Food Center, Resort Apparel Shop, Dr. Gary Pearce, Elliott Optical, Hayes Chiropractic, Market Realty, Abacus Day Care and Allen Williams and Associates insurance.
For a time, the combination of tourist attraction and commercial plaza worked.
By 1996, Campbell said most of the office space was occupied and described the project as a success. During the busy winter season, about 100 people a day rode the elevator to the observation deck. The restaurant also became an important part of the property. Tower Restaurant owner Jack Moll operated a 75-seat diner and planned to add another 68 seats.
The tower was still operating in late 2002, although an annual gathering of wasps temporarily closed it for several weeks. Campbell said the wasps returned each year to mate near the top and disappeared when colder weather arrived. A Florida travel feature published in August 2003 continued to advertise elevator rides, panoramic views and $3 admission. It also described the restaurant below as a local favorite.
In 2003, Lake Placid Tower Group sold the property to C H L Tower Group for $1.19 million.
The available record does not establish exactly when regular public access ended. The tower was still being promoted as an operating attraction in 2003, but sometime afterward its primary purpose began to change.
From tourist attraction to communications tower
The tower’s height made it valuable to telecommunications companies. Major carriers and smaller operators installed antennas, dishes, repeaters and other equipment near the top.
Businesses continued to operate around the base for several years. Kathy and Gary Freeman opened their health-food store at the tower in 1999. They renamed it Alpha Natural Store in 2004 and moved to Main Street in 2006. The Tower View Restaurant remained open much longer but had closed by March 2015, when CareerSource Heartland offered assistance to its displaced employees.
As tenants left, the plaza deteriorated.
2017 brought Hurricane Irma. By 2018, photographs showed rotted wood, mold, roof damage, deteriorating signs, overgrown areas and boarded or damaged portions of the buildings. Town officials were also discussing maintenance and code problems at the property, but were hopeful the addition of a new Property Manager would bring the plaza back into good shape. That August, fire spread through the walls and ceiling of one of the plaza buildings and reached the roof. Firefighters had to cut through the roof to reach the flames. The building’s numerous additions and the extreme heat complicated the response.
In early 2019, representatives seeking approval for a replacement communications tower nearby said the old tower was no longer suitable for their equipment. The major carriers gradually moved elsewhere. What began as a roadside tourist attraction had become primarily a communications structure surrounded by mostly vacant commercial buildings.
Another effort to preserve the tower
Complaints about the condition of the plaza continued. In May 2023, Addie Ahlstrom, representing the Interlake Condominium Association, presented photographs of the deteriorating buildings and asked the Town Council for help getting the property cleaned up and repaired. Sources maintain trespassers have also been a continuing problem, breaking into the vacant buildings for shelter and to drink alcohol, and leaving bottles, trash and other debris behind.
In 2024, owner Chuck Svirk began publicly discussing plans to preserve the tower while finding another future for the surrounding commercial property. The last major telecommunications equipment was removed in June 2024. Svirk said the work required two cranes, extensive interior rigging and about two weeks. Abandoned equipment left by earlier carriers was also removed.
He later reported that the observation walkway had been pressure-cleaned, treated and painted, rails had been repaired or replaced and portions of the upper interior had been repainted. He said the decommissioning work alone cost more than $35,000.
Ideas for the tower included renewed public access, cameras at the top, decorative lighting and exterior improvements. None became a final restoration or operating plan. By October 2025, Svirk said the commercial property would be listed for sale while the tower would be retained. He also discussed the eventual demolition of the aging plaza buildings and the possibility of donating the tower at some point to a nonprofit or another suitable organization. Those ideas remained proposals.
The commercial property goes on the market
The commercial property surrounding Placid Tower is now listed for $2 million. The listing includes approximately 1.8 acres and 13,756 square feet of commercial buildings. It does not include Placid Tower. The seller will retain the land immediately around the tower, possibly as much as four-tenths of an acre from the larger site. The listing is handled by Greg Karlson of Advantage Realty.
The sale could determine what replaces the deteriorating plaza buildings. It does not change ownership of the tower, which remains with the current owner on land being retained from the sale.
More than 60 years after it opened, Placid Tower is still standing. Its future has not yet been decided, but Svirk has said he wants to preserve it and is willing to discuss options for what comes next.
