Sulphur Springs Water Tower is a landmark of

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It stands tall, with a foundation deep which makes it visible from nearby Interstate 275 and much of the rest of Sulphur Springs. It's located in the historic district of

Sulphur Springs Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage under ...

History

Modern history

The water tower was built in 1927 by Grover Poole for realtor and developer Josiah S. Richardson to supply adequate water pressure to the ''Sulphur Springs Hotel and Apartments'' and ''Mave's Arcade'' Richardson had developed next to Sulphur Spring with plans to expand the resort spa, alligator farm tourist attraction, and other enterprises. Mave's Arcade occupied the first floor of the hotel building and was the first shopping mall in Florida. Richardson mortgaged the entire resort ($180,000 at the time) to finance the construction of the tower. However, in 1933, with the sabotage and collapse of the Tampa Electric Company dam that ripped through downtown Tampa during the Depression (draining cow pasture land that had been inconveniently flooded by the dam's construction), the arcade was heavily damaged, the businesses in the arcade failed, and Richardson lost everything. From construction until 1971, the water tower operated as a private water company piping artesian well water to commercial and residential customers in the immediate vicinity. The tower is built over the opening of an artesian well and the water well and pumps are located under the tower itself. Another building was on the property which housed fluoridation and filtering equipment when the water company was in business piping artesian well water directly to customers. In 1971 the owner of the water company and tower was "The Estate of J.F. Hendricks" (several beneficiaries under his will including surviving relatives). They were forced by the City of Tampa in 1971 to cease water piping operations so that the City's

water utility The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services (including sewage treatment) to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. Typically public utilities operate water supply networks. The water industry does ...

company could maintain a monopoly over the business of piping water to citizens. In 1951, the Tower Drive-In theater opened adjacent to the tower property to the east. An

aircraft warning light Aviation obstruction lighting is used to enhance the visibility of structures or fixed obstacles which may conflict with the safe navigation of aircraft. Obstruction lighting is commonly installed on towers, buildings, and even fences located i ...

atop the tower (since removed) was said to have interfered with movie viewing. In the mid-1980s there was a move to develop the property as a condominium or high-end apartment complex, with the tower preserved as its centerpiece. Ultimately, the project fell through. In 1989 the tower was restored: it was pressure washed and painted with 150 gallons of "graffiti proof paint" donated by

Sherwin-Williams Sherwin-Williams Company is an American Cleveland, Ohio–based company in the paint and coating manufacturing industry. The company primarily engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coatings, floorcoverings, and related p ...

Co. with labor donated by Service Painting Corp. River Tower Park Sign (Tampa)

2002 saw a bid by a large chain drugstore to build on the site, but public outcry killed the project. The site was subsequently purchased by the City of Tampa who in 2005 installed lights for nighttime illumination. In what is now called ''River Tower Park'', there is a limited one-lane access road off Bird Street, no facilities and a small parking lot. A River Walkway decking is planned.

Architecture

The structure is constructed from poured

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

using railroad rails for "

rebar Rebar (short for reinforcing bar), known when massed as reinforcing steel or reinforcement steel, is a steel bar used as a Tension (physics), tension device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and aid the concr ...

"; the walls are eight inches (203 mm) thick with a buttressed base on solid rock. "Concrete was poured into forms that were raised by yokes and jacks -- went up a day. The tower rests on rock, has cantilever foundation, and with the buttresses will be rather a difficult job to ever destroy," wrote Poole. When it was operational it stored 200,000 gallons of water pumped up from the nearby

artesian spring An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. An artesian aquifer has trapped water, surrounded by layers of impermeable rock or clay, which apply positive pressure to the water contained within th ...

s. The water tank occupies the upper quarter of the cylindrical tower while seven floors, one room per floor, constitute the lower three quarters. Original construction included an electric passenger elevator.

References

External links

* {{HCFPEI Landmarks in Tampa, Florida Buildings and structures in Tampa, Florida Water towers in Florida Tourist attractions in Tampa, Florida Infrastructure completed in 1927 Towers completed in 1927 1927 establishments in Florida