Village Towers or Tornado Towers. Photographs, 1994.

The Village Towers, more commonly referred to as the “Tornado Towers” were a housing complex consisting of twenty modular units stacked on four story precast concrete towers that provided homes for students who attended Mankato State University. 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 1502 Monks Avenue, were completed by 1972. Each unit consisted of two bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, and bathroom.

The Mankato city council bought the land in 1994 for $160,00, 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.