McHenry Community College broadcast tower deal canceled

A broadcast tower deal that would have brought up to $7 million to McHenry County College has turned into static.

BMB Communications Management was to build a 1,500-foot-tall radio and television tower on the southeast corner of 3.6 acres that belongs to the school.

Besides netting the school millions of dollars, the deal also would have helped several local radio and television stations upgrade their signals in hopes of reaching a new audience.

But the communications company this week pulled the plug on the tower plan, because it appeared the Federal Aviation Administration would not grant the permission needed to build the tower, which would have been taller than the Willis Tower in Chicago, MCC spokeswoman Christina Haggerty said.

MCC would have gotten money over the years as the company sold broadcasting spots, MCC board President George Lowe said.

School officials hoped to use it for future expansion of the school.

"We could have used the money, that would have been nice," Lowe said, adding that the school currently has no plans to seek alternate revenue streams to replace the loss.