An Aging Island of Magic Receives Needed Attention

The Watts Towers remain graceful, strange and whimsical, but increasingly have shown the effects of constant pounding from the elements. Engineers say water seeping through fissures has weakened some of the interior steel supports, so a city renovation project is under way to prolong the towers’ life. Above, Zuleyma Aguirre, perched in a hydraulic lift, patches cracks in the concrete. The towers were built over a 33-year period by Italian immigrant Sabato Rodia, misidentified for years in news accounts as Simon Rodia. Using primitive tools and such materials as seashells, 7Up bottles and broken china, he built an island of enchantment in the center of the city. Rodia stopped work on the towers in 1954 and moved to Northern California.