The fire tower that stands tall above Elberta’s town center once kept the area safe from destruction and harm.

Now, the aging sentry has itself become a risk, and is nearing the end of its watch.

Town officials are making plans to remove the tower in the next six weeks, said Elberta Council Member Paul Hopper.

As the tower ages the glass at the top has become loose and shards have showered neighboring properties during storms. A plan to move the tower to the nearby Baldwin County Heritage Museum comes with a price tag of nearly $40,000 – an impossible feat, museum officials said.

A fire tower refurbishing company has offered to remove the tower and breathe new life into the aging structure, rather than dismantle it for scrap.

Davana LLC Fire Tower Restoration has removed aging towers around the nation and re-imagined and rebuilt them in their original splendor. In 15 years, owner David Vana and his crew have completed 30 fire tower projects in 14 states.

Originally, Vana said, he had purchased one to refurbish and place on his own property. He still hasn’t finished that project – there have been too many others that needed finished first.

Vana said taking a tower down to refurbish is more difficult than removing it to use as scrap metal.

“Either way, logistics, personnel and safety are the foremost concerns,” he said.

The tower, which is roughly 120 feet tall to the cabin floor and 131 feet tall to its peak, is estimated to be 67 years old.

When Vana’s crew removes it, they will use a crane to lift the cabin and 34 feet of the tower below it and then gently lower it to the ground. The crew will then dismantle the remaining structure.

Every piece will be cleaned and hot dipped in molten zinc to give it a new protective coating that will last 30 – 40 years, Vana said. Any pieces that cannot be salvaged will be replaced with new materials. All nuts, bolts, stair treads and windows are also replaced.

Once finished, the tower will be shipped to central Alabama and raised again to stand guard for another half a century or more. The town will pay only the cost of the crane, roughly $1,200 Hopper said.

“The only disadvantage of this plan is that it is going to end up somewhere other than here,” Hopper said. “It is still a much better alternative than taking it down and selling it for scrap metal. It will have another life.”

The tower is expected to be removed in the next six weeks.

“It seems like a quick deal but we’ve been trying to do something with the tower since 2009, if not before,” Hopper said. “We have to get it down for safety reasons or spend a fortune to repair it.”