A nonprofit community group has purchased the endangered and historic water tower of McLean, Illinois, for $1. It will repaint the structure and hire an artist to paint a mural on it.
The purchase reverses a 4-2 vote by the village board in November to tear the water tower down for almost $34,000. The village had concerns about the tower’s liability and maintenance costs.
But the planned demolition found plenty of opposition from locals and preservationists, including the Illinois Route 66 Association.
According to WEEK-TV in Peoria, the village board on Monday voted 4-3 to accept the $1 purchase offer from CORE of McLean.
CORE Vice President Jeff Hake said he believes removing the tower would be an unnecessary expense.
“If a tornado came through this village, this is probably the last thing that would fall down–all the houses, the new water tower, everything,” Hake said. “There’s really no good reason to spend $33,800 of public, taxpayer funds to remove a thing that doesn’t need to be removed.” […]
CORE plans to clean the rust off of the tower and repaint it, commissioning an artist to paint a mural across the top.
“The McLean part of it will stay there–that big, block lettering on it,” Hake said. “It’ll have some kind of Route 66 theme, or at least a shield or something for Route 66, but we haven’t decided on a design quite yet.”
Hake told the station that CORE of McLean wants the mural finished by Route 66’s centennial in 2026. He said the mural will cost $27,000, and the organization has the funds for that.
CORE of McLean also is taking donations for the project:
The old water tower was built in 1935. It was decommissioned in 2017 after a new water tower was built.
(Image of the water tower in McLean, Illinois, via CORE of McLean on Facebook)