According to a press release from the City of Whitewater, on Monday, August 29, the City of Whitewater sent a Request for Proposal (RFP) to four structural engineering firms on behalf of the City’s Starin Park Water Tower. The water tower sits on top of a hill in Whitewater’s Starin Park, on the northern edge of the city, and has served Whitewater for 133 years. It was constructed with locally quarried limestone and has been a Local Landmark, protected by City ordinance, since 2015.
City Public Works Director, Brad Marquardt, requested proposals to:
1. assess the tower’s current structural viability to determine if it can be repaired or must be demolished;
2. provide potential solutions for repairing the tower, or for demolishing the tower, if necessary;
3. provide cost estimates for all potential solutions; and
4. identify public safety measures to implement while awaiting restoration or demolition and removal, if necessary.
Proposals, including costs, are due to the City on September 23, with a completed report due to the City by December 2, 2022. Funding for these professional services is available in the Water Utility’s current operating budget. Marquardt says he expects to recommend a successful proposal to the Common Council at its meeting on October 18, for approval.
The Starin Park water tower has provided water for city residents since its construction in 1889. The City has been planning to stop using this tower around the end of this year, once the new blue water tower on the far southwest side of Whitewater is successfully operational and supplying water to meet the City’s needs.
Concern about the Starin Park’s physical condition arose from a report to the Common Council on August 2. The report said the tower’s limestone and mortar have failed sufficiently, and would likely require an estimated $1 million of masonry restoration in order to keep the tower standing. The firm that presented the report indicated concern that the tower could fall at any time without restoration. Approximately $200 thousand would be needed to take down the tower and remove it.
The Whitewater Landmarks Commission, appointed by the City’s Common Council and informed by Municipal Code Chapter 17, was directed by the Common Council at its August 2 meeting to research restoration costs and potential funding sources to rehabilitate the tower. In response, the Commission asked the Council to first secure professional structural analysis to determine if the water tower can be saved. Members of the Commission include Ben Adamitis, Patricia Blackmer, Karen Coburn, Kori Oberle, and Dan Richardson. The City Council representative is Lukas Schreiber, and City staff representative is Olivia Pratt. Currently there is one vacant citizen member position.
For more information, contact Brad Marquardt, Public Works Director, at 262-473-0139.
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