‘Farewell to the Tower’ to be held in Lewisville

An event to celebrate and bid farewell to the Lewisville water tower has been scheduled for Saturday, March 5.

The tower, which has been Lewisville’s landmark since 1960, is no longer part of the city’s water distribution system. This type of tower typically has a functional lifespan of 50 years, according to James Kunke, community relations and tourism director for the city of Lewisville. Last year, a working group of residents researched how much it would cost to repair, restore and re-paint the tower, and provided a detailed cost estimate of about $783,000 to the Lewisville City Council. An attempted community fundraiser raised less than $10,000 in pledges.

“Faced with such a large expense that would have to be repeated every 20-25 years, the City Council did not support the project,” Kunke said.

The working group brought an idea to City Council for preserving part of the tower’s design, and council approved it and the plan is moving forward, Kunke said.

“Concurrent with TxDOT plans to rebuild the I-35E/Main Street interchange, the City already had committed to paying for decorative concrete formliners on the embankments facing the highway traffic lanes,” Kunke said. “There are similar displays at the rebuilt interchanges at Garden Ridge and FM 407. Two of the Main Street panels have been redesigned to reflect a Fighting Farmers theme.”

This week, the Lewisville City Council approved $122,000 to bring down and dispose of the tower, which is expected to take place in early March.

The working group has put together a “Farewell to the Tower” public event, starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 5 at the tower site, near I-35E and Main Street. Several LHS school groups will participate, including members of the marching band, and several people with close ties to the Fighting Farmer tradition will make brief remarks, Kunke said. Parking at the site is limited, but there are lots available nearby at Wayne Frady Park and at the former IHOP restaurant.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the weather-related date change from Feb. 26 to March 5.