(The Associated Press circulated the following on August 2.)
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The Greenbrier resort wants to build a 100-foot cell phone tower disguised as a pine tree.
The camouflage would be achieved using textured material painted to resemble the bark of a pine tree, Verizon spokesman John Johnson said. Branches molded from actual pine trees would be attached to the main pole with invisible wiring. Pine needles would be made of vinyl or plastic and the branches would be attached to hide the antennas, he said.
Verizon is negotiating with the resort’s owner, CSX, on the project.
If the idea moves forward as the resort envisions, the tower would be built near its water reservoir overlooking U.S. 60 and the city of White Sulphur Springs and would improve cell-phone service for its guests.
“The Greenbrier has been labeled as technologically challenged by some guests and groups,” said Mike Keatley, the resort’s director of information and technology.
Because the resort is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the plan is being reviewed by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s State Preservation Office.
Johnson said he has only seen one problem with disguising a cell phone tower as a tree.
“They look so realistic that squirrels keep chewing the needles off the branches.”