Osseo Continues Push for Water Tower Repair Funding
City of Osseo officials are working to find contractors to help in the effort to renovate the historic 124-foot water tower behind city hall, and it hopes to secure more state grant funding to help. Ideally, at least a plan will be in place ahead of the city’s 150th anniversary celebration in 2025.
Osseo’s historic water tower is on the National Register of Historic Places and is currently covered in lead paint.
“It’s a long process, because we may apply for grants and not get approved. I may be in the same boat next year, applying for this grant,” said Community Management Coordinator Jessica Rieland. “So, until we get the grant funding, that’s what we’re doing. There’s no exact timeline, but our goal is to just keep moving and push forward to have some results or some idea or timeline for the 150th.”
The city has undertaken a years-long effort to shore up the 100-year-old structure, which is the centerpiece of most town logos and is the most recognizable landmark in the city. It gained a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017, and the city was able to get grant money to pay for an assessment in 2020. That assessment showed there are two ways to improve the reality that the water tower is covered in lead-based paint: you can remediate it by scraping off all of the paint and repainting it, or you can encapsulate it (sealing in the paint).
“That’s the challenge: finding professionals that do this kind of work at this scale, and so that’s where I’m at right now: trying to find the people that could get the process started, because I need that to happen before I can complete my application (for grant funding),” said Rieland.
She said she needs grant money to complete a construction plan and she also needs funding to hire a safety consultant. She then hopes to go after more grants to pay for the work once the city decides on a direction. The city estimates the bulk of the actual restoration will cost around $650,000.
“We’re applying for a small grant now and a big grant later,” said Rieland, identifying possible sources as the Minnesota Historical Society and the Minnesota State Historical Preservation Office.
