Torre del Reformador, Steel tower in Zone 9, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Torre del Reformador is a 71.85-meter steel framework tower of galvanized iron at 7th Avenue and 2nd Street, Zone 9. Its open lattice, whose basic shape evokes the Eiffel Tower, rises in tapering tiers to a beacon at the top, and a bell hangs inside the structure.
Fabricated by the United States Steel Products Company, the tower was assembled in 1935 by engineer Arturo Bickford, then mayor of Guatemala City, and inaugurated on 19 July 1935 under General Jorge Ubico Castañeda. It first bore the name Torre Conmemorativa del 19 de julio de 1935, marking the centenary of Justo Rufino Barrios's birth. Its first electric illumination came on 26 September 1958, paid for by Cervecería Centro Americana.
The tower's official name was originally "Torre Conmemorativa del 19 de julio de 1935", and the plaque at its base still records that name. The bell hanging inside the structure was a gift from the Belgian government, while the beacon, lighting and landscaping of the base were donated by the private company PUBLICAR, S.A.
The tower stands at the intersection of 7th Avenue and 2nd Street in Zone 9, on Boulevard 15 de Septiembre, and has never moved from that spot since 1935. There is no interior access for visitors; the structure is viewed from street level. Its beacon and lighting were added by the company PUBLICAR, S.A., which also landscaped the bases.
The tower's beacon has been replaced several times: the original burnt out in 1969, a second failed, a third was installed in 1984, and in 1994 American Airlines donated a fourth after ten years of service. The Belgian bell it replaced still hangs inside the steel framework.
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