Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Water Tower

Some water towers are prettier than others, but they all become part of the skyline.

This water tower has been vacant since 1978.  At one time a developer thought he would put a relvolving resturaunt on top…that never panned out…the City Council has asked for demolition bids…so soon it may be gone…forever.

Park Rapids

We were in town last night doing an errand and after that we decided to get some water tower shots.

Water Tower from the alley

The view from Far Guys alley, behind the house he grew up in.

The water tower was just a block away from his house.  It was a place for neighbor kids to play…or whatever else kids do.  I know as teens some talked about kisses exchanged at the water tower. Water tower from the jail

The view from the New Law Enforcement Center…or in the olden days the site of The Ringer Building.

Water Tower

Water Tower Park Rapids Minnesota June 27 2016

The water tower was constructed in 1930, it contains 2 million pounds of concrete, it took a crew of 15 to complete the tower.  The tower cost $16,600. One worked fell to his death and three others were seriously injured in accidents during the building of the tower.   The water tower is 135 feet tall.

The projected cost for demolition is around $100,000.

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27 comments:

Tom said...

a different style water tower than seen here

Cathie said...

Interesting how it cost $16,000 to build and $100,000 to destroy. Thanks for sharing this.

Georgina said...

I love that you can see straight through it.

Marty said...

So why was it ultimately abandoned?

linda m said...

i have never seen a water tower like that one, especially one made out of concrete. Thank you for sharing it with us before the "wise leaders" destroy it.

DJan said...

I don't know why they don't just leave it as a curiosity. It is a different looking water tower. :-)

Tired Teacher said...

I'm guessing it was built with an enclosed staircase to allow workmen to ascend safely in the winter months. It's truly a unique design.

Far Side of Fifty said...

A new water tower was built:)

Mac n' Janet said...

Our town has a water tower too, don't know if it's defunct or not.

Terry and Linda said...

A renovated water House/Restaurant Something would be so cool!

Linda

Rita said...

I've never seen a concrete water tower. I suppose if they leave it the tower would eventually crumble, but it is pretty cool.

Wendy said...

Sure hope they don't find $100,000. What a sight! Thanks for sharing.

Paula said...

Amazing how much it will cost to tear down compared to how much it cost to build. I love water towers!! They are so seldom over-looked.

DFW said...

Makes the water towers here in the south look 'rinky'. Our are always steel framed. Never saw a concrete one before, very unique.

Anonymous said...

I'd never seen a concrete tower before I saw this one in PR. That's an awful lot of concrete! I'm sorry for the worker who fell and died and for those who got hurt. Do they want it down because it's not structurally safe?

Far Side of Fifty said...

liability I think as it belongs to the city:)

Red said...

Hey, the water towers. It's a sign of changing technologies. That's quite a difference in price from start to finish.

Linda W. said...

The water tower is a symbol of the midwest. I have many fond memories of driving across South Dakota and spotting towns by their water towers. Sadly, you don't see many of them here on the west coast.

grammynmaggie@yahoo.com said...

In my travels up and down the coast I've seen many water towers painted all different kinds of ways and made in all kinds of shapes I kept thinking I should stop and take pictures but I never did maybe I'll start doing that... your water tower would be perfect for painting it to look like a lighthouse too bad it can't be preserved

Sam I Am...... said...

It's too bad someone didn't buy it and live in it. What a view they would have!

Granny Marigold said...

135 feet high... that must be quite something. I have never lived in a town that had a water tower. People just had their own wells.

Leilani Schuck Weatherington said...

Last summer the water tower about 1/4 mile from our house was painted a beautiful teal color. It was fascinating watching the men working as they dangled from cables attached at the top. I was going to do a blog post about it but never got around to doing it.

Henny Penny said...

I love old water towers and I really like that one.

Linda said...

We have one in a nearby town that is painted a bright purple.....and one in a nearby city that they've turned into a restaurant.

Linda Reeder said...

That is a rather attractive land mark. too bad it has to come down.

MTWaggin said...

Like the old graineries, not many of the water towers are left. Funny that our kids' kids will no doubt think of cell phone towers like we think of these old relics.

MahliB said...

Brainerd MN has one like that. They are declaring it a historical building. Pipestone MN put theirs on the National Register of Historical Places too.