Sam

He’d been smart enough to buy the farmhouse that was directly south of The Tower. During construction he realized that it would become something of a giant sundial. Various other farms would be in shadow at predictable times each day. Sam had also been smart enough to buy out this farm before the project had become public. As soon as that happened, the rest was snapped up for commercial uses.

The Tower dominated the center of the plot. There were parking lots around the edges. Between the cars and The Tower were grassy areas perfect for picnicking. Large windmills dotted the area, their giant blades nearly reaching the top of The Tower.

There was even a water park being planned. He smiled to himself at this. The thing would only be open for half the year. The easy prediction is that the park would be out of business quickly.

Still, the hotels would do very good business. This had become a destination. For some it had become something of a pilgrimage.

It was no secret that Sam had made his money out of wind power. This was back when there were no profits to be had. He’d been able to improve some of the technology both in generation and in storage. This caused his wonder to be called ‘The Tower that Wind Built’.

At first he fought against this description. The wind was useful but he felt that it shortchanged the ingenuity and sweat that had gone into the Tower. The wind had been helpful to his cause, but it was impersonal and didn’t care what he built. His marketing people pointed out that there was quite a bit of goodwill that would come there way if people tied there Tower into environmentalism as a whole.

That was an argument that he could understand and he stopped protesting. He wouldn’t let them call it ‘Wind Tower’ or anything like that though. A naming contest was proposed but he put his foot down. It wouldn’t be given any random name.

Selling naming rights or letting his company attach itself to it was also unthinkable. There were bitter fights in the boardroom because of this. He finally had to point out that he’d bought the property himself and funded the project through his own means. The name would be his and his alone. The resulting acrimony helped his decision to retire.

It wasn’t that he had a great name in mind. It was more his pride that the entire thing was his and his alone. He wouldn’t give that up to anyone. Sam made a firm choice. It would simply be called ‘The Tower’.

There were complaints from Paris and Pisa but he stood firm. It made news and that helped him as well. A popular columnist made the point that he was an American standing up against snotty Europeans. Privately, Sam thought that was nonsense but he could only admit that it probably helped sales.

Not that he needed help. The thing was a statewide wonder. More than that, it meant something to the entire upper Midwest. People would drive for hundreds of miles to see it. On the average day you could find forty or more different state license plates and a good half dozen Canadian provinces would be represented as well.

The kickoff had gone perfectly. He’d sponsored a concert with several well know but older groups. They played from the second level balconies while crowds watched from the parking lots and the gardens. Quite a bit was riding on this because if they could pull it off, it would immediately make them a must stop for the popular bands. There were no problems and the offers started coming in.