Save Gabe's

Save Gabe's Project that advocated for the preservation and adaptive reuse of Gabe's Tower (1963), in Owensboro, Ky.

Until being demolished in June 2020, this likely was the earliest-surviving freestanding cylindrical commercial or residential tower in the country. This was a grassroots initiative to restore the promise of Gabe's Tower (1963) as a placemaking landmark for Owensboro, Ky. — a project to:


1 | Remind residents, diaspora and friends of Owensboro, Ky., what Gabe's Tower was — and what it represented

— in its 1960s and '70s heyday.

2 | Engage and mobilize this group as the vanguard of a movement to see that Gabe's Tower is preserved and restored — and that it is preserved and restored as part of a strategic vision and plan for upgrading the entire block and neighborhood of which the tower is a part.

3 | Brainstorm visions for how the Gabe's block — the whole block, including the tower — might be more imaginatively and sympathetically programmed and designed, so as to create a more hopeful future for the block and the neighborhood. July 2013

RECOMMENDATION THAT OWENSBORO ADOPT THE STRATEGIC REDEVELOPMENT AND RESTORATION OF GABE'S TOWER & BLOCK AS A "COMMUNITY PRIORITY"

Response to Public Survey Conducted Jointly by the City of Owensboro; Daviess Fiscal Court; the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corporation; and the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce

http://on.fb.me/12Lk7FP


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April 2013

LETTER OFFERING ASSISTANCE TO THE CITY OF OWENSBORO IN DEVELOPING OPTIONS FOR GABE'S TOWER
From American Institute of Architects-Central Kentucky

http://on.fb.me/11T5A6B


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March 2013

PRESERVATION KENTUCKY NAMES GABE'S TOWER ONE OF "KENTUCKY'S HISTORIC HIDDEN GEMS"

http://on.fb.me/XMFmU4


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January 2013

FULL-PAGE "SAVE GABE'S" HIGHLIGHT (link to pdf)
RPPN Connections | Winter 2013 issue

For best results, print in color on white paper. http://bit.ly/12gdvOJ


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November 2012

INVITED PHOTO ESSAY FROM DOCOMOMO US

http://docomomo-us.org/news/gabes_tower_a_photo_essay

Docomomo US is the U.S. chapter of Docomomo International, a nonprofit organization, founded in 1988, that is dedicated to "the DOcumentation and COnservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the MOdern MOvement."


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October 2012

LETTER OUTLINING BLUEGRASS-SUPPORTING VISION FOR GABE'S TOWER, BLOCK & NEIGHBORHOOD
To Terry Woodward, Then-Chair of the
International Bluegrass Music Museum

http://on.fb.me/S1rBKW

LETTER FROM PRESERVATION KENTUCKY
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RACHEL KENNEDY
To Owensboro, Ky., Mayor Ron Payne

http://bit.ly/Ram1WV


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August 2012

STATEMENT OF "EMPHATIC SUPPORT"
from the Recent Past Preservation Network (RPPN)

http://www.recentpast.org/iconic-gabes-tower-threatened-with-demolition/

RPPN is a national nonprofit, founded in 2000, that champions works of architectural modernism that are 50 years old or less, including works designed by local and regional architects who — like R. Ben Johnson, the architect of Gabe's Tower — are less well-known nationally.


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The Save Gabe's project appreciates the support and assistance of the following preservation, advocacy and design groups and their leaders:

* Recent Past Preservation Network
* Docomomo US
* Preservation Kentucky
* Kentucky Heritage Council
* Society for Commercial Archeology
* American Institute of Architects-Central Kentucky
* Los Angeles Conservancy Modern Committee
* ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on 20th-Century Heritage
* KyModern.com
* Oklahoma Modern
* Modern Capitol
* Mid-Century Mundane
* Mid-Century Modern Rhode Island


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2-SIDED "SAVE GABE'S" FLYER (link to pdf)

For best results, print in color on white paper. http://bit.ly/UUZlio


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Previous Notes from the Save Gabe's page:

7 Oct 2016
GABE'S GARDENS | The Next Future for Gabe's Tower? http://ow.ly/s5uh3055Psf

4 Oct 2016
IS IT REALLY "NECESSARY" THAT THE CITY OF OWENSBORO ACQUIRE GABE'S TOWER IN ORDER TO RELOCATE THE CITY'S TRANSIT OFFICE? http://ow.ly/iWw9304TtI4

2 Oct 2016
CONDEMNATION ≠ DEMOLITION
http://ow.ly/GnTH304TtwY

30 Sep 2016
IDEAS FOR GABE'S TOWER
http://ow.ly/Y3EH304Ttm2

30 Jun 2016
HARD QUESTIONS FOR COPPERHEAD
http://ow.ly/nhKm304TtdU

19 Oct 2015
NEW INTERIOR PHOTO OF GABE'S TOWER CONFIRMS OUTSIDE-THE-BOX POTENTIAL
http://ow.ly/ciLS304TsFb

20 May 2014
THE MAYOR'S CODE | Inklings of a
Renewed Gabe's Demolition Crusade
http://on.fb.me/SyffAY

18 Dec 2013
"GOD IS IN THE DETAILS"
http://on.fb.me/18RUqlz

8 Aug 2013
THE ORIGINAL "HI, NEIGHBOR!" CAMPAIGN
http://on.fb.me/15SJPcQ

23 Jul 2013
GABE'S RANKS FOURTH IN PUBLIC SURVEY ON COMMUNITY PRIORITIES FOR OWENSBORO
http://on.fb.me/12hahw7

18 Jul 2013
THE MESSENGER'S DOUBLESPEAK ON GABE'S TOWER
http://on.fb.me/1bSoVeL

15 Jul 2013
IF THE NEVELE CAN RISE AGAIN, SO CAN GABE'S
http://on.fb.me/13tKSxj

12 Jul 2013
OF INTERIOR DEMOLITION AND EXTERIOR DIPLOMACY
http://on.fb.me/12x0pI4

27 Jun 2013
WANT TO SAVE GABE'S? USE YOUR EXISTING LOCAL INSTITUTIONS
http://on.fb.me/16FKuvi

19 Jun 2013
GABE'S & THE 2013 GREATER OWENSBORO COMMUNITY PRIORITIES LIST | Responses to the Public Survey
http://on.fb.me/12Lk7FP

11 Jun 2013
WERE THE ORIGINAL PASTELS OF GABE'S TOWER AN "OMAGGIO" TO ITALY AND ITALIAN FOOD CLASSICS? SEEMS A DECENT BET
http://on.fb.me/1a222Vh

6 Jun 2013
MOVE TWO LARGEST DISCOUNT RETAIL TENANTS FROM GABE'S SHOPPING CENTER BUILDING TO NEARBY HOSPITAL SITE
http://on.fb.me/10ZI9Lj

3 Jun 2013
HOW THE CITY COMMISSION COULD HAVE PUT BOTH THE COMMUNITY *AND* PROSPECTIVE DEVELOPERS IN A BETTER POSITION ON GABE'S TOWER
http://on.fb.me/13nD4KN

28 May 2013
GABE'S TOWER, TRIPLETT RENEWAL & THE NEW DOWNTOWN
http://on.fb.me/14r8aEb

22 May 2013
A BOURBON-FLAVORED GASTRO-LOUNGE ATOP GABE'S TOWER? http://on.fb.me/16PefwO

13 May 2013
AUSTIN GETS IT | Texas City Moves to Restore Iconic 1961 Tower — Even Without a Clear Use for It
http://on.fb.me/10mC1fl

7 May 2013
OWENSBORO MUST MAKE GABE'S TOWER, TOO — NOT JUST O's DOWNTOWN — "ONE OF THE DESTINATIONS FOR CULTURAL TOURISM IN THE U.S." http://on.fb.me/119GkrN

29 Apr 2013
AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS / CENTRAL KENTUCKY OFFERS ASSIST TO CITY OF OWENSBORO IN DEVELOPING OPTIONS FOR GABE'S TOWER
http://on.fb.me/11T5A6B

25 Apr 2013
THE MESSENGER GIVES GABE'S A NOD (Sort of)
http://on.fb.me/ZpPIdj

31 Jan 2013
FROM EYESORE TO EYE CANDY | A Surprising New Life for A Battered St. Louis Power Plant
http://on.fb.me/YJf4DW

1 Dec 2012
GLIMMER FOR GABE IN A REVIVAL FOR RUDOLPH? http://on.fb.me/S4Sm6t

27 Nov 2012
THE SAVE GABE'S 225 | "Talk," "Reach," and the Untapped Potential of the Save Gabe's Page (As Revealed By Its User Data)
http://on.fb.me/10SwoFd

15 Nov 2012
FROM SMITH-WERNER TO GABE'S | What Owensboro City Hall Could Learn from Daviess County Fiscal Court
http://on.fb.me/RGaH6h

9 Nov 2012
OF WRECKING BALLS & LIGHTNING BUGS | Better Ways To Spend $500K+ of Taxpayer Money
http://on.fb.me/PKAEDa

26 Oct 2012
A ROLE FOR THE GABE'S BLOCK IN OWENSBORO'S ROOTS-MUSIC REVOLUTION? | A Letter to Terry Woodward (excerpt)
http://on.fb.me/S1rBKW

22 Oct 2012
THE ELUSIVE MR. HUDA
http://on.fb.me/VwMG6E

21 Oct 2012
FROM PRENTICE TO GABE'S | Lessons for Owensboro from Chicago
http://on.fb.me/Rl2XWd

20 Oct 2012
CAROL BRADY ♥'s GABE'S TOWER
http://on.fb.me/VrYQha

28 Sep 2012
THANKS, MESSENGER-INQUIRER ;)
http://on.fb.me/PignA1

12 Sep 2012
GABE'S TOWER IN THE ANNALS OF FABULOSITY
http://on.fb.me/SEXmik

6 Sep 2012
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO "SAVE GABE'S"? http://on.fb.me/RMV9Pb

23 Aug 2012
LOS ANGELES ARCHITECT AND WRITER CALLS ENDANGERED GABE'S TOWER "A RIGHTEOUS WORK OF MODERNISM"
http://on.fb.me/Qzligb

17 Aug 2012
GABE'S TOWER | A Test Case for Preservation in Owensboro, Ky. http://on.fb.me/OzhDQf

14 Aug 2012
BRINGING BACK GABE'S | An Idea for the Mayor
http://on.fb.me/R32biv

8 Aug 2012
A GABE'S TOWER PRIMER
http://on.fb.me/TA2O5i


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"Often the best way to get a good new building is to grab a great old one, give it a good hard shake, and reinvent it for another era." — Boston Globe architecture critic Robert Campbell


"A community uninterested in preservation is a community that is not proud of its past." -- Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Bill Cunningham


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Contact John Lumea | [email protected]

Thanks to Wesley Johnson.
07/02/2025

Thanks to Wesley Johnson.

A SNOWPLOW TO KEEP THE MEMORY ALIVE? Noting that "Gabe's Plower" is one of the top 10 proposed names for city snowplows ...
01/15/2025

A SNOWPLOW TO KEEP THE MEMORY ALIVE?

Noting that "Gabe's Plower" is one of the top 10 proposed names for city snowplows in a contest being sponsored by the Owensboro Times.

Voting is today only.

Owensboro residents, you brought the creativity! After receiving more than 600 clever, witty, and downright hilarious snowplow name submissions, it’s time for Round 2 of the Owensboro snowplow naming contest! Here are the 10 finalists. Voting is open today only, exclusively on OT.

The caption sums it up pretty well..."Beauty is in the eye of the cash holder."
04/25/2023

The caption sums it up pretty well...

"Beauty is in the eye of the cash holder."

Beauty is in the eye of the cash holder.

𝗔𝗡 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗥 𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 "𝗧𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥" 𝗜𝗡 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡 The Capitol Records building, in Los Angeles, usually is credited as the first cylind...
12/28/2022

𝗔𝗡 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗥 𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 "𝗧𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥" 𝗜𝗡 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡

The Capitol Records building, in Los Angeles, usually is credited as the first cylindrical commercial tower in the United States. It was completed in 1956. Gabe's Tower opened seven years later, in 1963.

But, the United States was late to the "round tower" party.

Here's Haus Vaterland, Berlin, in 1929. This "pleasure palace" — which featured a cinema, ballroom and several restaurants and cafes — originally opened as Haus Potsdam in 1912.

Photograph: W***y Pragher (1908–1992)

𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗢𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬?Something we never mentioned in our advocacy to preserve Owensboro's first skyscraper, Gabe's Tower, ...
12/03/2022

𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗢𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬?

Something we never mentioned in our advocacy to preserve Owensboro's first skyscraper, Gabe's Tower, is the much taller cylindrical structures to the northeast: the two stacks at OMU's Elmer Smith Station.

In fact: At 650 feet, the tallest of the two stacks set to be felled tomorrow is nearly 100 feet taller than the 555-foot-tall Washington Monument.

Wonder if OMU ever considered felling only the shorter of the two stacks but leaving the taller one in place and donating it to the City — or to a purpose-built local nonprofit — with a view to preserving this stack as an Owensboro landmark and attraction?

It's not difficult to imagine painting the whole thing white, then illuminating it in different colors at night a la the bridge — with a bright ring of color-programmable lights at the very top.

THIS MESSAGE WAS AT THE HEART OF THE SAVE GABE'S PROJECTFrom the piece linked below:"Our hometown was demolishing good b...
10/28/2022

THIS MESSAGE WAS AT THE HEART OF THE SAVE GABE'S PROJECT

From the piece linked below:

"Our hometown was demolishing good buildings — because they did not conform with the current style of architecture — only to replace them with parking lots!"

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"For neighborhoods and the public, ADAPTIVE REUSE ALLOWS FOR EXISTING BUILDINGS TO BE RESTORED, SOMETIMES MANY TIMES OVER IN MATURE NEIGHBORHOODS, CONTRIBUTING TO A UNIQUE SENSE OF CHARACTER AND HISTORY THAT CAN REMAIN INTACT. THIS KIND OF AUTHENTIC VISUAL AND CULTURAL CONTINUITY CANNOT BE RECREATED FROM SCRATCH. Perhaps most important, renovated buildings minimize the impact on the environment: demolition requires tons of materials to be dumped into landfills and into the waste stream. New construction requires more energy to create materials, distribute them, and erect them."

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"The sad fact is that empty or outdated structures equate to blight for most people, who then surmise that demolition and new construction are the only options. This is a short-sighted view. THERE ARE IMPORTANT BENEFITS THAT COME FROM REUSING EXISTING BUILDING STOCK, LIKE PRESERVING THE PAST AND CREATING A RICH LAYERING THAT ULTIMATELY MAKES OUR CITIES MORE INTERESTING AND UNIQUE. TAKING AN ADAPTIVE REUSE APPROACH CAN INSTILL NEIGHBORHOOD PRIDE AND HELPS BUILD MORE INTERESTING, RESILIENT CITIES. Not to mention that in some cases, it can be faster and ultimately leave a smaller carbon footprint."

Architects should seek to rethink and reuse existing structures whenever possible.

Gabe's Tower 12th-floor-roof under construction in the first week of July 1963.Source: Messenger–Inquirer, Sunday 7 July...
07/30/2022

Gabe's Tower 12th-floor-roof under construction in the first week of July 1963.

Source: Messenger–Inquirer, Sunday 7 July 1963, p. B2.

Gabe's Tower under construction in the first week of July 1963.Source: Messenger–Inquirer, Sunday 7 July 1963, p. B2
07/30/2022

Gabe's Tower under construction in the first week of July 1963.

Source: Messenger–Inquirer, Sunday 7 July 1963, p. B2

Gabe's Tower under construction in October 1963. Photograph courtesy of Adam Paris.Original source info pending.
07/30/2022

Gabe's Tower under construction in October 1963.

Photograph courtesy of Adam Paris.

Original source info pending.

12/22/2021

The same people that killed
Gabe's Tower killed Texas Gas.

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Owensboro, KY

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