What is this unusually tall building in Bristol, Connecticut?

This strange tall building in the town of Bristol, Connecticut stands out. It is the tallest building for miles around. What is it?



The answer is that it is the Otis Elevator Research Center. This is where Otis test elevators and research new ideas for elevators. Who knew such a building existed?

From http://utc.com/press/highlights/2003-08-27_tower.htm :

The Otis Research Center, featuring a 29-story test tower and Quality Assurance Center in Bristol, Conn., is one of Otis' worldwide facilities that test the company's elevators and escalators and their components in simulated real-world environments.

Otis tests the components to their limits, whether it's sending an elevator car up and down (and up and down and up and down) a 300-foot hoistway, or shaft, or deliberately corroding a microprocessor in a salt-fog chamber, a test that mimics conditions of a coastal environment.

...

While components are being tested at the Quality Assurance Center, elevator car (or cab) prototypes are actually dropped down the hoistway at the test tower in a free fall - just to make sure that the governor senses the car speed and initiates the car safety device to stop the elevator safely. Finally, specialists called ride-quality engineers ride the elevators to measure vibration, noise and acceleration.

If you are in Bristol, check it out. Well, you can't miss it since it towers over everything else.