Mount Vernon is the county seat of Knox County, located in North Central Ohio, and is home to the brand new Ariel-Foundation Park, a 250-acre public green space built on the site of the former Pittsburgh Plate Glass (PPG) manufacturing plant (which closed in the 1970s).  The centerpiece of the park is the Rastin Observation Tower, a smokestack from the old factory that has been transformed into a must-see landmark. With a spiral galvanized steel staircase built around the 280-foot smokestack, park visitors can climb over 220 steps for a magnificent view of Mount Vernon.

During a design meeting between the architect and City Officials, everybody agreed that they wanted the tower to last as long as possible for future generations, with little to no maintenance costs.  This closed the deal on specifying that the entire structure be hot-dip galvanized. 

The complexity of the post galvanized fit up was the challenge for all involved on the project, and initially made the architect skeptical to galvanize because of potential distortion.  For this reason, the galvanizer worked closely with the fabricator using AGA Design manuals and past Tech Notes of similar projects and fit ups.  All welding and fabricating criteria was followed.  While no one believed the spiral stair would fit up after galvanizing, it ended up a success.  It made believers of the architect and the fabricator.