Lights out at well-known icon signals end of an era

This column has little to do with business. It’s more about something I simply want to say. I also think I’m speaking for a lot of people here in Middle Georgia.

Two weeks ago, the lights went out on the cooling tower at Plant Branch, the Georgia Power facility in Milledgeville. Over the years, that tower has come to mean a lot to me, more than I think I’ve realized.

I first came to Milledgeville in 1988 on a site-selection team visit with Nestle Foods. We flew into the local airport, and one of my first images of the area was the view of Plant Branch and its imposing tower. Little did I know then how many times that tower would come into view.

Returning from too many road trips to count, it’s the tower that welcomed me home. Home! When I rounded the curve at mile 6 between Eatonton and Milledgeville on U.S. 441 South, the tower would suddenly appear. With its looming presence in the daytime and blinking lights at night, it was a comforting acknowledgment that the journey, no matter how difficult, was almost over.

When she was young, my granddaughter traveled a lot with me to north Alabama to visit my aging mother. We passed several other power plants on that trip. Even at her young age, she was very clear that none of them was her power plant. She knew the tower well, and she was always full of excitement when we rounded the curve and her tower showed up. Approaching her fourth birthday, she was adamant that she wanted a “tower party.” It took me awhile, but we celebrated her 16th birthday with a private tour of Plant Branch. Wonderful memories.

For anyone getting to know Lake Sinclair, the tower was a mainstay in navigation. From any place on the lake, if you could see the tower, you know where you are and know how to make your way home. The tower lights have saved many of us who happened to get caught on the lake in a storm, particularly if that storm came up quickly while on the lake at night.

And for anyone who flies frequently, you know the holding patterns for the Atlanta airport circle around the Plant Branch tower. True frustration is seeing the tower, knowing that it signifies home and not being able to get to it.

The lights on the tower are gone now. That first time I rounded the curve and couldn’t see the tower, my heart sank a bit, more than I was expecting.

I want to say thank you to the tower for all the times you welcomed me home. And I want to say goodbye. Know that many of us will miss you and all that you have stood for.

This story was originally published September 27, 2016 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Lights out at well-known icon signals end of an era."