PAXTON, Ill. (WCIA) — The skyline in one Central Illinois city got an upgrade on Wednesday.
An extensive project to construct a replica of Paxton’s 138-year-old water tower has been completed, stirring emotions among the locals. Many gathered on Wednesday to witness the installation of a replica of the historic water tank onto the downtown 80-foot-tower.
The building process has taken a couple of years, but the idea began half a century ago.
“It’s the crown of the town,” Stan Foster, owner of Stan’s Stair Shop, said.
Weighing an impressive 22,000 pounds, the “Crown of the Town” is now prominently on display. The Paxton Foundation, a local historical organization established in the 1980s, aimed to restore a water tank to the downtown tower, just as it stood from 1887 to 1948.
The foundation’s president, Roice Baier, said that the project really got traction two years ago.
“So then, Stan Foster comes into the picture,” Baier said.
Foster was visiting Paxton’s history museum.
“I was looking at this model of a brick water tower with a water tank similar to the original, and I thought, wow…” Foster remarked. “Having a water tank like that would be amazing,” Foster added.
That’s when Baier got a call.
“And said… ‘Stan wants to build a tank for the tower’,” Baier recalls. “I said ‘Is he done yet?'”
So, Foster got to work.
“I began by sketching the tower, got it registered on the national registry of historical buildings, and located the blueprints for the structure. I took GPS measurements, designed the tank, and drew it, just to determine if this idea was even possible,” Foster explained.
It took a village to build.
“The copper at the base needed soldering and welding, which is where I contributed. That’s my area of expertise,” Steve Pierro, a metalworker on the project, stated.
Creating the crown is an achievement they’ll never forget.
“I’m truly honored to be a part of it. I’m a Paxton native and just to be involved in something like this is truly amazing,” Pierro said.
Foster was equally grateful.
“This means a lot. I’m quite emotional about it, but I had no doubts. I wasn’t concerned about whether it would fit. I just wanted to see it placed up there. It’s so cool,” Foster expressed.
The next steps include hooking the electrical up; there will be LED lights shining on the crown. Baier hopes people as far away as Champaign will be able to see it at night.
