Rockdale takes down 100-year-old water tower

ROCKDALE – Orange sparks sprayed Wednesday from the bottom of the tank at the Rockdale water tower on Otis Avenue.

Crews with Iseler Demolition from Romeo, Michigan, were on hand taking down the 100-year-old structure, located on the north side of the Rockdale Fire Protection District station. By 9 a.m., the top of the tower was already gone, and a quarter of one side was missing.

Rockdale was established in 1902, and so the water tower is one of the oldest structures in the village. A plate attached to the tower showed its construction date to be 1914.

"It's been out of commission for about 10 years," said Jim "Smokey" Planinsek, Rockdale's public works director. Planinsek, along with other village employees and neighbors, looked on as crews took the tower apart.

Workers crawled around on the inside of the empty tank, using blow torches to separate it into sections. They then connected a crane to each section, making their final cuts and letting the crane lower each large piece to the ground.

Below, two more workers cut those sections into smaller pieces, their blow torches popping and hissing as they worked, sparks spraying at their feet. The smaller sections were lifted by a large forklift into a garbage bin, booming as they were dropped.

Since its decommissioning 10 years ago, the tower has stood empty, Planinsek said. The structure became obsolete after the village constructed two other 250,000 gallon water towers.

"As the village expanded, it needed more [water] storage," Planinsek said.

The removal will cost Rockdale $14,000, and the crews will get the remaining scrap to sell, Mayor Sam Wyke said.

Rockdale had considered taking the tower down about five years ago, but decided to hold off after getting prices on the job, Planinsek said.

But recently, engineers determined the tower had a problem in one of its legs, Wyke said, and officials decided to revisit the removal, pursuing project quotes about two months ago.

"After what happened in Chicago this last winter, they had a couple water tower [problems]," Wyke said. "One of them split and the water went all over. We definitely did not want to have a mishap like that."

Surrounded by homes, were the tower's leg to fail, the damage would have been great, Wyke said.

Once the tower is removed, the village also will remove the footing around a shut-off valve that served the tower, Planinsek said. The village will then pave over the land and it can be used for parking.

The village also may make some repairs to a well house located on the site, Wyke said. The well house still serves Apollo Colors, 1550 Mound Road.

To commemorate the structure, Rockdale will retain a decorative ball cap that was at the top of the tower, as well as a portion of a tower ladder and a commemorative plaque that marked the tower's construction by Chicago Bridge and Iron, Planinsek said.