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When business owner Bobby Read approached the Brooksville City Council about purchasing a municipal building at the base of the small Florida city's water tower, he didn't expect the water tower to come with it.
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"I immediately went through the necessary steps to deed the water tower back to the city of Brooksville," Read said in an email to NPR. "The city's intention was to sell me a split section of the parcel with a small garage."
The surprise purchase boiled down to a mix-up over the legal description for the property. Mark Kutney, the Brooksville city manager, says the building Read wanted to buy was never split off from the parent property where the water tower is based, even though city leaders were aware it was supposed to be. City code allows properties to be split one time from their parent parcel, Kutney said.
While Read officially owned the water tower for a little over a week, he never had keys or access to the property. A small fee of $10 was all it took to sign the property back to the city, and Kutney said the city maintains an "outstanding" relationship with the businessman as he starts renovating the building for his new gym.
Elevated water tanks and tanks on towers provide for a combination of pressurized water from gravity feed as well as a highly visual statements. Towers can be constructed from either wood or steel in a variety of styles and heights.
Water tanks on towers can provide a stunning architectural landmark for commercial as well as private properties and are often used in public parks, shopping centers, and of course on ranches. In addition the elevated structures provide high visibility for signage and advertising to attract new visitors or customers.
Loyola University Chicago does not own nor control these private parking facilities. Loyola University Chicago does not endorse any parking facility nor accept liability for the use of these parking facilities. Loyola University Chicago shall not be responsible for any injury or for any loss or damage to vehicles, accessories, or the contents thereof caused by fire, theft, collision, water or other causes at private parking facilities.
The tower was accidentally sold to Read because of legal descriptions where the building he wanted to buy was never split off from parent property where the water tower is based, Mark Kutney, the Brooksville city manager, told NPR.
Read did transfer the warranty deed back to the city on May 14 after owning the tower for more than a week. He told NPR he never got the keys or had access to the property. There was a $10 fee to give it back.
Hunt, who used to work in a factory in the filtration industry, was scrolling through real-estate listings when he chanced upon an old water tower. He had been looking for a property to fix up and was immediately intrigued by the listing.
Hunt turned the derelict water tower into a sleek three-story home. Instead of keeping the exposed concrete exterior, he covered the tower in black cladding and painted the base of the house white for a contrasting look.
To fund this project, Hunt sold his original home and his rentals and borrowed money from his parents. He plans to use the profits from the sale of the water tower home to repay his parents and start a new project, he added.
The 87 year-old water tower rises above Mount Pleasant's Old Village Wednesday, June 30, 2021. The Mount Pleasant Waterworks elevated tank hasn't held water since the '90s. It will be demolished in July, although some residents see it as a landmark. Grace Beahm Alford/Staff
The 87 year-old water tower rises above Mount Pleasant's Old Village Wednesday, June 30, 2021. The water tank, on King Street, has served only as a platform for cellular equipment for the last 20 years.Grace Beahm Alford/Staff
The elevated water tank, taller than homes and trees in the Old Village, was erected in 1934 when Mount Pleasant was not the state's fourth-largest city, but a small community with about 1,500 residents.
The water utility debated what to do with the water tank over the past five years. It was still valuable as a rent-producing host for cellular equipment but had become unsafe to the point that the cell companies wouldn't send crews up to do maintenance, Clum said.
At one point MPW considered building a replica of the water tank. Facing an estimated $1.2 million repair bill, the decision was eventually made to tear it down, and that could begin as soon as July 13.
The Maribor Water Tower (Slovene: Vodni stolp) is a medieval fortified tower in the city of Maribor, Slovenia. The late-Renaissance tower stands directly abuts the Drava River and dates from 1555. It is of pentagonal form and consists of massive stone blocks interspersed with embrasures. It was built to secure the southeast part of the Maribor city walls from the direction of the river.[1]
Before the mid-16th century, the southern part of the Maribor city walls was guarded by two round defensive towers, the predecessor of the current Jewish Tower and the predecessor of the Water Tower, known as the Gunpowder Tower (Slovene: Smodniški stolp), mentioned as of 1529. Around 1555, a decision was made to extend the city's defensive fortifications against Turkish raids to include the municipal port.[2] Italian master builders erected two bastions on the Drava, a tower that came to be known as Mariborske Benetke ("Maribor Venice") to the west and the water tower to the east. The city gates once stood between the Benetke Tower and the Judgement Tower.
During the 1960s, the Drava was dammed at Melje for the Zlatoličje Hydroelectric Plant, causing the water levels to rise. Much of the old urban core of Maribor was due to be submerged in the resultant reservoir, including the Water Tower, which was originally slated for demolition so as not to pose a hazard to navigation.
At present, the Water Tower houses a wine shop which specializes in top-quality Slovenian wines.[2] It is Slovenia's oldest wine cellar, and is situated in what is now the center of Maribor.[4] The shop is on the ground floor.[4] The top floor of the tower contains a large, round hall with a high ceiling, reminiscent of a medieval banquet hall, which is dedicated entirely to wine tasting.[4] The world's oldest grapevine is located on the side of a building a few hundred metres away.
Design and construction of the new water tower began shortly thereafter. Both were a collaboration between Benezette Williams and Edgar Williams of the firm of Williams and Williams (which later became known as MacRichie and Nichol) and Ethan Philbrick. All three were civil engineers and residents of Western Springs. Benezette Williams and Ethan Philbrick eventually served as village presidents. The cost of the Tower combined with the sewer and pumping system and the pumping station was $79,119.10.
Construction required 156 carloads of stone ordered from the Chicago and Naperville Stone Company. Each stone was cut and shaped by hand on-site. The Tower is 112.5 feet high at its tallest point and 36.5 feet in diameter. The walls are 6 feet thick at the base and the original water tank held 133,000 gallons of water. The Tower itself, which has three floors and a basement, served as the village offices, police department, and police magistrate court until 1957 when the village offices were relocated to the new firehouse on Wolf Road. Even this change proved inadequate and in 1968 a new administration building was built at 740 Hillgrove Avenue.
After 65 years the tower now stood empty. It was not until 1966 when a group of civic-minded individuals formed the Western Springs Historical Society and the village agreed to allow them establish a museum in the Water Tower. After three years of extensive renovations, the museum opened in 1970.
Improvements and maintenance of the park have continued thanks to the efforts of residents, civic organizations, and the Village. On April 10, 1981, the Tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places, as one of the few municipal water towers that also housed government offices. 041b061a72