The Village Towers, more commonly referred to as the “Tornado Towers” were a housing complex consisting of twenty units that provided homes for many students who attended Mankato State University. The Tornado Towers were the cheapest housing option in Mankato during their existence, ostensibly a reflection of fact they were stacked trailer houses. The higher the house you had the cheaper the rent was. The construction of the Tornado Towers was part of a larger initiative known as Operation Breakthrough created by the Nixon administration in 1969. The Village Towers, located at 709½ South Front Street, were completed by 1972.

The Mankato city council bought the land in 1994 for $160,000, apparently marking the first time Mankato bought property with the sole purpose of tearing it down. Mankato engineer Ken Staford stated the structural foundation was safe, but noted the individual units were “less than desirable”. The towers were torn down in mid-August 1994. One of the students who lived at the towers, Shani Coffman, observed a gradual deterioration of the towers in their final months. Students who lived at the towers sometimes referred to themselves as “tower flowers”, showing the sentimental impact the towers had on some members of the Mankato community.