Red Deer’s iconic green onion will be freshly painted green again for the first time in over 50 years.
The City of Red Deer’s Horton Spheroid water tower that overlooks the downtown will begin receiving a new coat of paint starting next week, said Terry Prince with the City’s Environmental Services.
The project is expected to cost close to $750,000, said Prince.
“We’ve done our assessment and the paint has been peeling in some areas but not all . . . The south side of the tower is very faded from the sun whereas the north side is a bit closer to original colour,” he said.
The work will be carried out by Rescom Coatings Inc., an Ontario company that, according to Prince, has painted a lot of water towers in Ontario.
They expect to be finished by the fall, weather depending.
The company will be painting the exterior, overtop of the original coat. They will also be treating a few rust spots beforehand, said Prince.
The new paint will be polymer-based, encapsulating the current coat and sealing the surface to protect it from the elements.
It should last another 25 to 50 years, said Prince.
This will mark the first time the tower has been painted since it was built in 1958.
“Residents will notice this change, as it’s such an icon on the skyline of the city,” said Prince. “They’ll notice the colour improve, and it will all be one consistent colour.”
There will be minimal impact to the city while the painting is being done and water delivery will occur as normal, he said.
The Horton Spheroid stands 40 metres tall and stores 2.27 million litres or 500,000 gallons of water.
Horton Steel Works, the company that built the tower, painted it Niagara Green. It just happened to be the colour they had left over in stock at the time.
Niagara Green will be used for this paint job as well.
rfrancoeur@www.reddeeradvocate.com