New Hope Water Tower Undergoing a Massive Paint Job
Every day, thousands of cars travel along Highway 169, and on the way is the unmistakable sight of the New Hope water tower, a decades-old landmark.
“Actually, 1968 it was originally constructed,” said New Hope City Engineer Dan Boyum. “Yeah it’s been here for a number of years and stood the test of time.”
The iconic tower holds 1.5 million gallons of water. While it’s certainly stood the test of time, Boyum said it needed a new paint job.
“It was last painted in 1990, so it was due for a repainting,” he said. “And so, the contractor is blasting off the old paint, doing some structural repairs and then repainting it with a primer and several coats of paint.”
Work on the $1.9 million project began in April, and passersby have had the fun task of watching the process.
At least, the part that’s visible from the road.
Interior paint job
The interior of the New Hope water tower is also getting a new paint job.
This painting project isn’t just relegated to the exterior. Crews also have to paint the interior as well, both for corrosion protection and to maintain water quality.
“Sometimes on the inside of the water tower, there’s little pinholes that will develop in the paint,” explained Boyum. “And so, when you get to that point, you know that you need to repaint it so that it’s all kind of staying properly protected.”
After all, the tower serves an important purpose of ensuring that people in New Hope, Golden Valley and Crystal get the correct amount of water pressure in their homes and businesses.
The tower is also important during emergencies.
“When there’s a fire event, there’s enough storage in that tower to kind of help with fires,” said Boyum.
Painting a water tower is a tedious process that takes 13 weeks to complete. The goal is to have the job finished by July 18.
Once the paint job is finished, the process won’t need to be repeated for at least another 20-25 years.
Meanwhile, the city of New Hope has launched a contest for folks to guess how many gallons of paint it takes to repaint the water tower. People have until July 31 to submit their guess to the city’s website.
The participant whose guess is closest to the actual number will win a pair of passes to the New Hope Golf Course or the New Hope Aquatic Park.
Related: New Hope Updates Water Tower
