CRESTVIEW — The Liveoak Lookout Tower at the city's McMahon Environmental Center now bears the registration number 1,000 on the National Historic Lookout Register, and could one day be incorporated into an educational center.
Keith Argow, the organization’s national chairman, presented the registration certificate to Crestview City Councilman Mickey Rytman and Mayor David Cadle on Jan. 22.
Though the national register has nearly 1,100 registered lookout towers, only four are in Florida, Argow said. He said the coveted 1,000 registration number had been reserved for a tower the organization deemed “special,” and Crestview’s landmark was chosen for the honor.
“As we came close to 1,000, it had to be a very special tower,” Argow said. “We are glad to assign it to the Liveoak Fire Lookout.”
HONORING THE PAST
Rytman spearheaded the placement of the more than 60-year-old tower on the registry. He credited retired forester John McMahon, for whom the environmental center is named, for helping preserve the landmark.
“Mr. McMahon has basically saved what you see here today,” Rytman said.
“I’m pleased that the city of Crestview honors its past and its beginnings,” Mayor David Cadle said. “I salute Mickey Rytman for the steps he took to get this tower on the national registry.”
McMahon couldn’t attend the dedication due to illness, but was represented by his wife, Doris, their daughter Laura Pitts, and their grandson, Curtis Pitts.
“John’s real disappointed he couldn’t be here,” Doris McMahon said.
STRUCTURALLY SOUND
After the dedication, Curtis Pitts joined several attendees in a climb up to the top of the tower. Afterward, several climbers remarked on the structure’s soundness.
“Those oak steps are real solid,” Main Street Crestview Association member Cal Zethmayr said.
The Crestview Kiwanis Club has taken on the refurbishment of the McMahon Environmental Center as a community project.
Business partner Jayne Swift of CH2M Hill said one idea includes incorporating the fire tower’s base into a new museum and education center to replace the existing small museum.
Placement on the National Historic Lookouts Register qualifies the Crestview tower for grant money that could be used for such a facility, Rytman said.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Liveoak Fire Lookout becomes nationally recognized (VIDEO)