The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Ceremony kicks off restoring of water tower
With a light rain falling steadily during the morning of Oct. 15, it didn’t seem like an ideal day to perform any outdoor painting jobs.
But about two dozen people who gathered at the Madison water tower all picked up paintbrushes and applied some white paint onto a lower leg of the iconic structure as part of a special ceremony.
The event marked the beginning of on-site work to restore the 128-foot tall, 90-year-old tower that is a prominent fixture at the Interstate 90 westbound and Route 528 interchange in Madison Village.
“Anybody who’s living in, around or even driven past Madison for many years is familiar with the water tower,” said Madison Village Administrator Dwayne Bailey.
It was announced on Oct. 15 that the water tower will be receiving a new base coat of white paint later this fall, marking the first phase of transforming the landmark into a welcome area for tourists and a destination symbol for the Grand River Valley region.
“This is going to be the front door of the Grand River Valley and it’s right here in Madison,” said Lake County Commissioner John Hamercheck, who’s also a resident and former councilman of Madison Village “So it’s a great opportunity for all.”
Since a traditional ribbon cutting or groundbreaking with shovels didn’t seem to fit with efforts to restore the tower, Lake County Visitors Bureau Executive Director Scott Dockus was looking for a different activity to highlight the Oct. 15 ceremony.
In a conversation with Mark Rantala, executive director of the Lake County Ohio Port and Economic Development Authority, Dockus and Rantala began kicking around different ideas. It was Rantala who raised the idea of involving paintbrushes as a prelude to the tower painting.
People who assembled at the event were issued paintbrushes and matching painter hats. Dockus popped open a can of white paint, and he and Bailey brushed a few symbolic coats onto a leg of the tower, with other guests following suit.
Bailey said the collaborative effort to restore the tower started taking shape in July 2017, when he and Dockus spoke for the first time.
Shortly after becoming the new executive director of the Lake County Visitors Bureau, Dockus read a News-Herald story about Madison Village Council giving the community until October 2017 to raise the money necessary to get the tower a new paint job, which would essentially keep it from being torn down.
“(Dockus) called me immediately and said, ‘We’ve got to save this thing, it’s an iconic landmark and we have to have this in Lake County. ‘” Bailey said.
Leading up to the pivotal conversation between Bailey and Dockus, the water tower’s fate had teetered in recent years between unsuccessful efforts to raise money for rehabilitating the structure, and announcements by the village that the structure would soon be demolished.
Several times, though, scheduled demolitions were postponed because of unfavorable weather or other reasons, sparing the tower a trip to the scrapyard.
“I like to say the water tower is like a cat because it’s got nine lives,” Bailey said. “It’s very nearly been demolished several times, as close as days away from being demolished.”
Bailey said government funding wasn’t available to recondition and stabilize the water tower because the leaking, deteriorating structure had been disconnected from the village’s water system in 2013.
But several community groups, including the Madison Community Improvement Corp. and Madison Merchants, took the lead on raising substantial amounts of money to ensure the water tower’s survival. Additional funding was secured by the Lake County Visitors Bureau and through anonymous gifts from individual donors.
As a result, $30,000 was raised for the first phase of restoring the water tower.
Fundraising will continue for the second and third phases of the project, Bailey explained.
“In the spring, branding art will be applied to the bowl, as well as landscaping to create a welcome area on the Route 528/Interstate 90 exit,” he said.
While the tower has become known for the carousel mural that has adorned its tank for about the past 30 years, that design will be replaced as part of the restoration project.
Dockus said the tower will include images to promote the Grand River Valley region and will tie in Madison “in some way, shape or form.” While the final types of designs are still under consideration, the Oct. 15 ceremony perhaps revealed a hint what might appear on behalf of the Grand River Valley.
During the program, a new logo and phrase to cooperatively promote wineries in the Grand River Valley was unveiled.
The logo, with a red background and white print, features two wine bottles with a road appearing to run in between the bottles. The design is accompanied by the words “Madison, Ohio” beside the bottles. Below that is the phrase, “The Wineries of the Grand River Valley — It’s always a good year here.”
Cindy Lindberg, owner of Grand River Cellars winery in Madison Township, spoke on behalf of winery owners in the Grand River Valley.
“One winery doesn’t make a destination, one restaurant doesn’t make a destination, but all of us together working makes an incredible destination,” she said. “We couldn’t be more proud that we’re going to represented on this tower.”
Dockus marveled at how people and entities have united to help plan and carry out the Madison water tower restoration.
“This is a wonderful example of collaboration,” he said.