Golden Valley Considering Options for Water Tower on Civic Campus Site

The water tower that dominates the civic campus at the heart of downtown Golden Valley is now more than 60 years old and needs replacement, and city leaders are using the current Building Forward initiative and plans as an opportunity to talk about replacing–and relocating–it.

The water tower in downtown Golden Valley is now more than 60 years old.

“It’s been in the plans for a long time to replace the water tower–2030, 2031,” said Golden Valley Public Works Director Tim Kieffer. “So, we’re just taking this opportunity to see if we want to relocate that, and there’s some advantages to that. “

Kieffer said one advantage would be to relocate the tower and the water transmission line into and out of it closer to Rhode Island Avenue, which would be better for safety and for maintenance. Then other buildings on the redesigned civic campus could be oriented around that.

“The public engagement we have had says, you know, the water tower is a focal point for downtown, so we want to keep that, and maybe still have that and keep that water tower that draws people to the civic campus,” he said. “Also, it comes down to dollars and cents: currently, estimates are $2-2.2 million just to re-paint this tower, where a new tower is at $7 million. So, over the lifespan of the tower, it’ll actually pay for itself with lower maintenance costs.”

Kieffer said the city hopes to narrow down its four options to one by the end of the year and decide where to locate the new tower.

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