Halloween is the time for spooks, scares, and maybe even a little mischief.
Back in 1979, Lloydminster got a little more mischief than it bargained for.
Shortly after local TV stations signed off for the night they would find their time off the air longer than usual. The over 500-foot tall transmission tower north of the city had fallen on top of the nearby building.
The cost, according to the TV station, was over $500,000 at the time, no small amount for 1979. The station would be off the air for 13 days before they were able to secure a lower power replacement to restore television service to the area.
Now, I remember being quite young and coming home every day to watch TV. I’m not sure I’d make it 13 days without anything to watch. I’d have to what, go outside? Ain’t happenin’.
I was born to be inside, but a lot of people weren’t. When there was nothing to watch they went out into the community, places all around town saw an influx in traffic as people looked elsewhere to fill their time.
The mystery of it all was who perpetrated the vandalism. RCMP at the time were suspicious enough to put six people on the case. No one was ever caught, and no one knows how exactly the tower fell.
It’s a true mystery in Lloydminster.
I’m not here to solve the mystery, nor do I really have any idea what happened. For a tower that large, it seems unlikely kids did it unless they were as strong as the Incredible Hulk.
Maybe somebody hit it with something, but then there would be debris in the area. It’s possible a support on the structure gave out and the tower tumbled.
Either way, a good mystery is always exciting. Moreover, it’s exciting to reminisce about events like this.
I came from northwestern B.C. prior to Lloydminster, internet, TV, and phones, went out constantly due to poorly planned infrastructure. Events where everything was offline was pretty normal for me.
But Lloydminster’s possibly greatest unsolved mystery, now that’s exciting.
Read more: Column: The knowledge keepers