Petition seeks to preserve iconic Hebron water tower in face of updates

A petition filed by Hebron resident Janet Ratajzcak, owner of Prairie Avenue Antiques and The Tack Exchange, is seeking to preserve the look of the village's iconic water tower, which commemorates the 1952 state champion high school boys basketball team.

Work recently began on a $361,000 maintenance project to upgrade the tower. About $30,000 of that was reserved for repainting the water tower, which will include recognizing all 10 members of the basketball team and 2016 state wrestling champion Colten Cashmore.

Work will include repairs to rusted areas, the replacement of a tank manway door and the addition of a failsafe vent and an overflow pipe extension. Regular maintenance also is to be performed every five years.

This has not sat well with some Hebron residents, many of whom did not want to see the iconic water tower’s appearance altered.

Instead of adding the names of current and future state champions to the tower, Ratajczak instead recommended acknowledging their accomplishments using the signs at village entrances.

“The taxpayers bare the costs and therefore should have the overriding voice in how their monies are spent,” Ratajczak wrote in her petition.

The goal is to gather 1,000 supporters. As of 2 p.m. Thursday, the petition has collected 117 supporters.