Last Call For La Crescent Phone Booth

By Dave Solie, WXOW

LA CRESCENT, Minn. (WCCO) -- In a sign of the times, the final call was made at a La Crescent phone booth this week.

Todd Roesler of Ace Communication Group says it's sad to see it go, but it was gathering a lot of dust.

"The last phone call that somebody used the telephone booth for was many months ago," Roesler said.

For that reason, along with maintenance, the old phone booth is about to go away.

"Well, it means change. And we're a continually changing and evolving society," he said.

But Jim Jorstad, director of academic technology services at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse says we shouldn't give up that history altogether.

"When you look at the phone booth, it really is saying something about our past. It's who we were. But I think the phone booth also tells us who we could be," Jorstad said.

In other words, Jorstad says we can learn something from the phone booth.

"Because in the days of the phone booth, I think we're more personally connected. And I think with technology, we've become actually more disconnected," he said. "We have a cell phone, we just text or we put on Facebook. We didn't have those tools, and I think by not having those tools it forced us to talk to people as people; a one-on-one relationship."

So the next time you pass by the booth, chances are you won't have to use it to talk with someone. But you might take a moment to consider what it's saying to you about where we've been, where we are and where we're going.

The phone booth will be donated to the local historical society.