134-Foot Roadside Thermometer OKd

Just how hot can it get in this blistering East Mojave Desert community?

Perhaps by late summer, a 134-foot-high thermometer will be able to tell you.

San Bernardino County planning commissioners Thursday approved construction of what is likely to be the world’s tallest temperature gauge just off Interstate 15 on the road to Las Vegas.

Expected to cost $600,000, the thermometer is the brainchild of longtime Baker businessman Willis Herron.

Herron’s development company will pay for the metal and plastic thermometer, which will stand beside his rebuilt Bun Boy restaurant, scheduled to open in August. The original restaurant was destroyed by fire more than a year ago.

Herron, 66, hopes travelers will find displaying summer temperatures novel enough to boost awareness of Baker. Ninety miles from Las Vegas, the desert outpost is the last oasis for motorists driving to Las Vegas, 90 miles away. But the community of 400 residents finds it tough to compete with the attractions of casinos and hotels at the state line.

Ideally, Herron said, the roadside attraction will persuade some of the 8 1/2 million drivers who pass through annually to stop long enough to take pictures, get a bite to eat or buy a few souvenirs.

But a competitor, Matt Pike, a co-owner of a local Denny’s, angrily denounced the plan and openly questioned Herron’s motives.

“This is a selfish business ploy in the face of stiff opposition,” Pike said at the commission meeting, before a 5-1 vote approved the plan. “Maybe we should apply to build a 150-foot statue of a sun god.”

Herron said the tower’s height will symbolize the 134-degree record temperature set in nearby Death Valley in 1913.

Plans had called for the tower to have flashing lights and a sign at the base promoting Baker and Death Valley. But a compromise with the county’s planning staff toned down the design. The staff also insisted on a maintenance plan that will ensure accurate temperature readings and guard against damage from high desert winds.

Another opponent, Joyce Berk of Citizens for Mojave National Park, remained convinced, however, that the structure would be nothing but an eyesore.

“The way to attract visitors (to Baker) is not with this sign, but with two national parks,” she said, referring to Death Valley National Monument and her group’s efforts to get national park designation for the East Mojave National Scenic Area.

But Planning Commissioner Chuck Bell said the temperature gauge would reflect Baker’s community character and fit in with the area’s high ambient temperature.

“Sometimes we get so hellbent on sterilizing the environment,” he said, it precludes an area’s development.