The repair work that will be taking place on the City of Estevan’s water tower this year will not result in the elimination of one of its most recognizable features.
Estevan city council discussed lighting and painting for the water tower during its meeting on June 4. Among the issues that came up was whether to still have “Estevan” painted on the water tower, with the quotation marks around Estevan.
In a report to council for the meeting, Shane Bucsis, the manager of the water treatment plant and the wastewater treatment plant, said there would be a “major refurbishment” of the water tower this year, which would require repainting the tower after construction was completed. Bucsis wanted council’s input on whether to retain the current colours, which are grey with “Estevan” in black paint.;
Options he presented were the status quo; paint the City of Estevan’s logo on the tower while leaving the rest of it grey; remove the quotation marks around Estevan; get feedback from the public on the paint scheme; or decide how Estevan would be painted on the tower while keeping the structure a grey colour.
LED lights will be installed at the bottom of the tower, shining to the base of the bowl. These colours could be changed, based on events.
“The more creative or different colours that are needed for the tower, the more expensive the cost would be to paint the tower,” said Bucsis. “At this time, I do not have a cost for different colours as well it would vary on the design. As well, the more variety of colours, they will fade differently. The repainting of the tower can get quite expensive as touch-ups are needed for the paint.”
Lighting for the tower was looked at in the past and it was around $60,000. The cost of the lighting could be included in the current budget for the tower. The City of Estevan is using gas tax funding from the federal government for the refurbishment.
Members of council were quick to voice support for keeping the quotation marks around Estevan.
“I love the modern aspect of our logo, but I also think the icon of our quotation marks is just so cool,” said Councillor Travis Frank.
Councillor Shelly Veroba said one of the first questions she received when she was elected to council in 2016 was about the quotation marks. While it’s not 100 per cent established, Veroba said it’s believed the person who was hired to paint Estevan on the water tower took the notes on the paper literally, which had quotation marks around Estevan.
Mayor Roy Ludwig said there will still be an arrow atop the water tower pointing towards the Estevan Regional Airport.
Councillor Rebecca Foord said she was a little leery about putting the logo on the water tower, in case the city were to have a rebrand of the logo. The city would then have to pay money to redo the water tower with the new logo.
“I really do like the idea of the lights. There are a lot of cities, bigger cities … that light up their big monuments in order to commemorate certain things or for big events,” said Foord.
When asked by Councillor Tony Sernick about which colour would work best with the LED lights, Bucsis said grey is the preferred option.
It was noted at a council meeting late last year that while the water tower is structurally sound, there is work that needs to be completed, including: some spots on the bottom bowl where the metal needs to be thickened; the piping for the tower is in poor condition and needs to be replaced; hatches are not the proper size; the outside needs to be repainted and bird deterrents need to be installed; the inside needs to be recoated and cathodic protection needs to be added to reduce long-term wear on the metal; and walkways need to be replaced.
