Perth Airport 1962 Control Tower & Fire Station:

Unsuccessful plan to re-use the tower cab;
Tower interior photos taken just prior to demolition.

Article © David Eyre

Upon seeing the AviationWA website article about the impending demolition of on the Perth Airport 1962 control tower, Allan Churn contacted AAWA to inquire about obtaining the glass "cab" from the tower or the fire station, for use at another airfield, such as the SABC airfield at Serpentine, south of Perth, or Bunbury.

If demolished, the tower was going to be taken to the rubbish tip, so it was hoped that the tower cab could be saved and continue in its designed role.

AAWA arranged with Perth Airport for the demolition engineer to contact Allan to see what could be done. Allan later arranged an escorted visit to inspect the interior of the tower and took the below photos on 4 March 2011.

Unfortunately, a combination of issues prevented the glass cab being saved:

Lifting the cab from the tower would require engineers to spend extra time cutting the metal structure holding the cab in place
A large truck was required to transport the cab, and a tall crane to lift the cab off the tower (with associated costs);
It was possible that the cab would be damaged during removal due to twisting of the structure;
There was asbestos in the roof and gutters, with special health and safety requirements to safely remove this;
The tower was still owned by Airservices Australia;
There was insufficient time available to make the necessary arrangements.

Photos © Allan Churn

Below is the location of the 1962 tower and fire station on the airport:

BELOW: Allan Churn prepared this picture to illustrate how the tower cab could be used at Serpentine Airfield, if it had been possible. (The cab is actually larger than depicted.)

	The fire station cab (foreground), with the control tower behind.
	Close-up of the control tower
	The fire station cab
	Amenities room
	Top of stairwell.
	Top of stairwell, facing southwest.
	Desk inside the tower cab. Originally, there were radio panels and instruments here.
	Desk inside the tower cab. Originally, there were radio panels and instruments here.
	Desk inside the tower cab. Originally, there were radio panels and instruments here.
	Ceiling inside the tower cab.
	View towards the Qantas Domestic Terminal.
	View towards Terminal 3.
	View towards city and aircraft parking area.
	View south towards runways 03 and 06.
	View toward the International Terminal.