I went by and photography the Grand Water Tower (yes, I know it’s technically a standpipe) and checked out the new paint job. It looks great. Compare it to my photograph of the capital in particular from March of 2019 to see the difference.
A Blog detailing the beauty of St. Louis architecture and the buildup of residue-or character-that accumulates over the course of time.
I went by and photography the Grand Water Tower (yes, I know it’s technically a standpipe) and checked out the new paint job. It looks great. Compare it to my photograph of the capital in particular from March of 2019 to see the difference.
It looks like it should have been repointed before they painted it. I guess the city didn’t want to kick in for that.
While I agree that in the best case scenario full rehabilitation is the most desirable outcome, judging from the quotes I’ve heard for how much tuckpointing would cost for similar sized smokestacks of historic breweries in St. Louis, the price tag might have approached $1 million. So the generous donation of a new coat of paint (with an undercoat of primer on the capital) is still appreciated.
My father used to ride his bike around that water tower as a kid back in the 50s. Glad to see some preservation efforts being made! It would be nice to see some landscaping around the base in lieu of the chain link fence though. And maybe paint the bollards white to match?
I think the bright yellow is a reflection of the extreme problem they have with people running into the bollards and buildings around the circle. The yellow provides for greater visibility.
Back in the 60’s when all the buildings were still standing around the circle, we went to visit a family friend who had an apartment in one. I still remember looking out their window at the tower.
The Missouri History Museum has some great photos of the buildings that used to line the circle:
https://mohistory.org/collections?text=%22Grand%20Water%20Tower%22&images=0