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“From day one”—that’s how long Pat Poole has been watching the construction of a new elevated storage tank (more commonly known as a water tower). Sometimes Poole’s cat, Dixon, watches too.
They’re both residents at the Traditions at Beaumont senior living community in Fern Creek. Through Poole’s windows, she and Dixon have a good view of Louisville Water’s new three-million-gallon tank rising behind the community. Construction started last fall, and the target date for putting the new tower in service is May 31, 2019.
Even though there’s a lot of other stuff to do at Traditions at Beaumont—including fitness classes, arts and crafts, music, cookouts, and outings to shops and museums—the water tower has captured the interest of many residents, said Executive Director Angeleta Hendrickson.
The construction has been especially interesting to Gerald Green, a resident who was a mechanic at GE for 17 years. He said he also has watched the work on the tower from day one, and he’s taken several photos as it has progressed. Because of his professional background, he’s been able to identify each stage of construction.
“I know what they’re doing,” Green said.
Bob Baxter knows what they’re doing too. He worked in construction maintenance for GE for 32 years, and he said he also has been interested in every step of the process. “I watched when they laid the concrete foundation,” he said, “and I’ve seen all of the hammering, the welding, the grinding.”
Poole said she became so interested in the construction that she called Louisville Water to talk about it. First she talked to a customer service representative who was a little confused by her questions.
“So, is there a problem with your water?” the representative asked.
“No, I just want to talk to somebody about the tower,” Poole said.
“Is there a problem with the tower?”
“No, I just want to find out more about it.”
She eventually got the customer service representative to understand that she’s “just a very curious person,” Poole said. “I have to know about things. I just wanted to know why they’re building a tower. I wanted to know how it will work.”
Louisville Water was happy to satisfy her curiosity. The representative put her in touch with the company’s Strategic Communications Consultant, Barbara Crow, who set up a meeting with Traditions at Beaumont residents and put together a presentation with information from Louisville Water Project Engineer Bart Potts.
“He was so helpful preparing me for my talk with residents and helping orchestrate something special for them,” Crow said. “He went above and beyond the call of his engineering duties!”
About 60 Traditions at Beaumont residents showed up for the meeting. Crow explained how towers work in general and how the new one will replace a standpipe on the site to help maintain both pressure and water quality in the area. Crow said she found out that watching the construction is “like daily television” for many of the residents.
Crow also learned that they’re especially interested in seeing the bowl of the tower raised into position, which is scheduled for mid to late October. Louisville Water plans to help the residents celebrate the milestone and/or completion of the tower with a viewing party or other event at the facility.
Of course, Poole won’t need special notice to know when the bowl is being raised. All she’ll have to do is look out the window. Dixon too.
Tank stats
- Capacity: 3 million gallons
- Height to overflow: 130.5 feet (total structure: about 142 feet)
- Bowl diameter: 111 feet
- Bowl Height: 46 feet
- Pedestal diameter: 55 feet
