Scary weather forecasts worried us all week, but it turned out to be fantastic for the 60 plus people who attended the ribbon cutting. In a brief ceremony, Friends President Ann Roberti, thanked those that helped make this project a success:
- Pete Clark, who originally saved the tower – buying it for $50, taking it down so carefully, and storing it on the farm all these years.
- Tom Clark, who turned down offers to buy the tower in hopes that it could be returned, and who contacted us to start this whole ball rolling
- All of the individuals, businesses and organizations who generously donated to the tower. In particular, two of our most generous individual donors, John Bramley and Gale Kabat. John checked in on us and supported us continuously throughout our four years of struggle to get this tower built. Gale offered our first challenge gift, kick starting our fundraising efforts.
- The New York City Department of Environmental Conservation, who generously allowed us to put the tower back on their property, and who helped us in so many ways. We specifically thank Paul Rush and the DEP for being open to this project. Chris Austin, Stacey Mattson and the Downsville Operations folks who did so much, deserve so much credit for all the physical work on the mountain, as do Paul Lenz, and Tom Davidock who stewarded this project through the DEP
- Delaware County’s Board of Supervisors and Department of Economic Development, who supported us with two tourism grants that really kick started our fundraising success, and who partnered with us on this project. Thank you, Tina Mole, and the other Supervisors, and Glenn Nealis and Lindsay Whitbeck.
- The FOBMFT board – Vice President Rick Roberts, Treasurer Ryan Nyaatz, Secretary John Sandman, all around fire tower expert Laurie Rankin and our other board members: Amy Beveridge, Wendell George, Jillienne LaFever, Jeff Senterman
- The Catskill Mountain Club for the great trails here and for starting the project. And in particular Bob Moses who has been here day after day, in all kinds of weather, helping with all kinds of things and taking wonderful photos for us.
- Our Tower Steward volunteers – we have more than 30 people signed up to be tower stewards who will greet visitors and open the tower cab on weekends and holidays from Memorial Day weekend through Indigenous People’s Day.
- Ann also thanked friends and family – particularly her partner Tom Miano, who is our Tower Steward Coordinator and sign maker, her nephew who designed our logo, and her brother who is making a video for us along with friend Sally Davis.
Tina Mole’, Chair of the Delaware County Board of Supervisors, and Paul Rush, Deputy Commissioner of the DEP also spoke about why Delaware County and the DEP were such big supporters and partners on the project.
The tower construction was completed in November and signed off on in January. Since then, we have had some pop-up openings and some scheduled school trips, and the visitors just love it. We have had people come from more than 2 hours away and have also had people who can see their house from the tower.
We’ve had quite a number of unanticipated delays, but we are finally here! It’s been a long time since that first conversation with Tom Clark, Tina Mole and the DEP, but we are excited that a new fire tower stands in the Catskills, right in our yard. We know it is going to thrill visitors and residents for decades to come!
The tower is open on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from Memorial Day Weekend until Indigenous People’s Day, from approximately 10 am to 4 pm, weather permitting.
New Bramley gear on sale to commemorate the official opening of the tower!
Now Available: New Colors! New Design!
This incredibly stylish and comfortable cotton T-shirt costs only 25.00 which includes shipping.
This is a small-batch, limited-edition item, so you need to act quickly, or you will miss the amazing opportunity to own one of these T-shirts.
These T shirts are now for sale online here.
Sizes
S M L XL
Colors
Oxford Gray
Stonewashed Blue
Tower had a brief public opening in frigid weather on January 4, 2025
Friends of Bramley Mountain Fire Tower took the opportunity to open the tower to the public on the first weekend after receiving its Certificate of Completion. With temperatures forecasted to be in the high teens with fierce winds, the tower was only open for one hour, but the weather did not discourage many hardy hikers.
The tower is only open to the public when a volunteer steward is on site. It will be open weekends and holidays from late spring through early October, from approximately 10am until 4pm, as weather conditions allow.
It will be open on an ad hoc basis dependent on weather and volunteer availability until then. Follow us on social media to learn about ad hoc opening dates.
We’ve been asked why did it cost so much to return the tower to Bramley Mountain when we already had all the parts of the tower and they are in good shape?
Good question! Here are some of the things we needed to pay for to restore and reconstruct the tower :
- 12 to 14 cross brace pieces that had pack rust because of insufficient galvanizing at the time of the original construction needed to be replaced
- All tower components needed to be picked up from the Clark Farm and brought to a facility to be sand blasted to remove the old paint and then hot dip galvanized to insure they will withstand the elements for decades to come. Of course, they then needed to be transported back to Delhi.
- New supporting footers need to be constructed for the tower
- All bolts and fasteners were replaced with new ones to insure strength and safety
- Wooden stair treads and landings were replaced with non-skid metal treads and landings, again for safety as well as for longevity
- Safety fencing needed to be purchased for each flight of stairs
- We also needed to pay for labor and equipment to transport the tower components and other materials to the top of the mountain and to do the reconstruction work.
