CITY SMART: How to thrive in the urban environment of Southern California. : Twin Towers, Temporarily

Who says they don’t build ‘em like they used to?

When the time came to replace Los Angeles’ first television broadcast tower, engineers decided to duplicate the old one. Right down to the last foot and the last steel strut.

The old tower was built 57 years ago above the landmark Hollywood sign for the city’s first television station, W6XAO. More recently, the 350-foot spire has been used for police, fire and other governmental two-way radio transmitters.

But after the 1994 Northridge earthquake bent the tower’s top, safety experts recommended replacing it with something familiar.

“This thing had been up since 1939 with no problem. So the guy designing it said he decided to make it just like the first one, member for member,” senior city communications engineer Jim Gilliam said.

The twin towers are now standing together while microwave dishes and antennas are moved. The new $430,000 version has a slightly thicker base for improved earthquake stability.

The design pleases city Communications Director Don Keith. “We didn’t want to change the skyline,” he said.

Nearby homeowners have been assured that the old tower will be removed next month. “You can understand what people think when they look up and suddenly see two of them,” said Dino Williams, a hillside resident since 1952.

W6XAO began in 1931 as an experimental station at a Cadillac dealership owned by Don Lee. Several hundred sets could tune in his musical numbers and vaudeville acts after Lee purchased the 1,700-foot mountaintop--dubbed “Mt. Lee.”--from the estate of Mack Sennett.

His station was designated KTSL (after son Thomas S. Lee) in 1948. It was sold to CBS in 1951, became KNXT after that and is now known as KCBS-TV. The station now broadcasts from Mt. Wilson.