In the next few months, the mobile phone network operator Verizon Wireless will deploy a temporary Cell-tower on Wheels (CoW) to 432 NE 74th Avenue. This device will support the wireless network during the demolition and reconstruction of the site’s equipment room. The existing cell tower will remain on NE Glisan Street and return to operation after demolition crews raze the former TV broadcast facility where the network equipment is currently located.
Last December, Verizon Wireless filed a permit to create a new equipment area within a ten by twenty-foot fenced area on the residentially-zoned southern portion of the property. The enclosure will house equipment cabinets and a generator associated with cell phone antennas on a utility pole in the NE Glisan Street right-of-way. Crews will construct a fully sight-obscuring eight-and-a-half-foot tall wood fence around the equipment shed and standby power generator. The wireless support staff will access the space through a four-foot gate on the north side. Landscapers will provide plantings around the outside perimeter to further blend the structures into the residential streetscape.
The new weather enclosures installed behind the fence will replace the existing three racks full of batteries, power management devices, and radio equipment stored in the northeast corner of the former TV studio. Crews will deconstruct the building to make way for the site’s two future low-income and supportive housing developments. Verizon Wireless will deploy the portable cell tower to maintain cell phone coverage during construction. It includes a cellular antenna, transceiver device, battery, and other necessary equipment required to provide a stable wireless mobile network. The transition to the temporary equipment should be seamless for users. Expect new equipment to arrive on site later this year ahead of demolition work.
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