When will the first Huntersvillian look up in horror at the concrete silo rising just off N.C. 115 and exclaim, “What is that! And who let them build it there?”

The “that,” of course, is the tower accompanying the manufacturing facility being built in the Commerce Station industrial park for ABB, a Swedish maker of utility cables and other hightech materials.

When complete, the tower will rise more than 400 feet above the site of the original Lake Norman Charter School (which has since moved into new digs across 115).

Talkers note that it can be difficult to envision the reality of what is presented in concept.

Just how high is 430 feet? Well, in a low-slung suburb, it’s pretty darn high.

Talkers don’t recall hearing much concern expressed about Huntersville’s manufacturing monument when Gov. Bev Perdue and a parade of shiny shoes came to town to announce the $90 million ABB plant, which is expected to create about 90 jobs.

Talkers also note that many folks tend to miss the discussion of projects like this at the time they’re being approved, but then rise in protest as the scale of the work is revealed.

Where does the ABB project fall on that scale? Let’s put it this way. Huntersville might no longer have to search for way to distinguish itself from its suburban brethren.

Soon it will be known simply as, “That Town With the Tower.”