[4] Ilgair Park's pools and artificial lake needed a large water tank and pumping equipment to function, which Robert Ilg decided to hide by building a replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to house them.

[1] In 1960, the descendants of Robert Ilg donated part of the park for the construction of the Leaning Tower YMCA.

[3] Other amenities of the employees' recreational park included a wooden toboggan run, which was in decay but still visible in the 1960s.

[6] On March 15, 2016, Niles voters passed a non-binding referendum approving of the village spending the money to renovate the tower.

[3][11][12] A US$1.2 million renovation of the Leaning Tower of Niles was started in 1995 by Mayor Nicholas Blase and the Board of Trustees, and was completed in 1996, improving the structure, façade and the Plaza area.