'We don't have a lot of built history left': Airdrie's water tower is getting a facelift

AIRDRIE, Alta. -

It's a prominent landmark for the city directly north of Calgary that serves as a beacon for residents travelling on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway.

But at some point in its lifespan, the top of the tower received a rusted blemish above the town name.

"We did have a radio antenna at the top and it got struck by lightning," said Scott Fediow, the city's project manager.

"Some of the paint chipped off is what I was told but I think the paint over time just wore off."

Fediow says almost a year ago, the City of Airdrie designated the tower as a municipal heritage historic resource and funds were allocated to have it repainted.

But the city soon found it challenging to find the right team to paint the tower because of its unique shape.

Kristopher James Jennings is a professional painter and industrial rope access technician.

He works with Gary Corbeil, a Red Seal painter.

The two are from Winnipeg.

"He does water towers, grain elevators. It's a rope system that he works off the top," said Fediow.

"We were looking at originally, possibly doing a scaffolding system around the whole tower but this was the best way to do it, just hanging off the top. Kris loves it. He has some fun and gets the job done for us."

The two will first pressure wash the tower, then address the rusted spots and finally refresh the tower with an aluminum maintenance enamel paint.

"Honestly, it's going to look exactly the same as originally," said Fediow.

"So we're not changing the colour, we're not changing the font and everything, so if you didn't notice that it was rusted and paint missing, you would just think it's the same tower, so it's just refreshing the look of it."

Laurie Harvey is the executive director and curator at the Nose Creek Valley Museum and grew up in Airdrie.

She remembers the life cycle of the 21.8-metre-tall local landmark.

"It was built in 1959, originally when they were building (the water tower). They called it the Horton Water Sphere and that was after the person who designed (and) built it," she said.

"They built it for emergencies but Airdrie grew and it became a little less than what they needed, so in the late '70s, it was decommissioned but by then it had become a symbol of Airdrie."

Harvey is happy to see the city invest in the landmark restoration project.

"We don't have a lot of built history left in Airdrie and the water tower is one that you can see, so it's fantastic," she said.

The budget for the project is less than $250,000 and work is expected to be complete by the end of July.