In 1949, the station suffered what could have been a crippling blow. Its main antenna at the Bloomingdale transmitter site collapsed. WMAQ was able to stay on the air, but not at its normal 50,000 watt power. While the main antenna was out of service, NBC found a solution with some history to it to get WMAQ back broadcasting at full power. RCA had a tower in storage in one of its New Jersey facilities that was used as part of its 1939 New York World's Fair exhibit. The tower, which originally came from NBC-owned WTAM in Cleveland, was shipped to Chicago and became the acting main antenna. It remains standing today at Bloomingdale site. The station launched a new main antenna tower at Bloomingdale in 1951, which was considered to be one of the tallest tower structures in the U.S. at the time.