Some call for North Park water tower restoration
Anyone who has climbed the 154 steps that snake up the side of the 101-foot-tall water tower in North Park might say it's a great place to get a bird's-eye view of the North Hills.
But unless they accessed the tower along North Ridge Drive before it was closed off in the 1970s because it was deteriorating, getting to the observation deck requires risking arrest for trespassing.
Allegheny County police charged nine juveniles recently with defiant trespass for bypassing a locked steel door to get onto the steps. The department issued a plea on its Facebook page for people to call 911 if they see anybody on the tower to “help us avoid anyone being seriously injured or losing their life as a result of this dangerous practice.”
Some park advocates, meanwhile, say they would like to see the tower restored eventually and reopened to the public.
“To the best of my knowledge, the tower is structurally sound, so there's no danger of it falling over,” said Gary Rigdon, chairman of Friends of North Park. “What it needs is to have the stairs repaired and the surface repainted.”
The tower — officially known as the Allegheny County North Park Water Supply System Standpipe — is a 300,000-gallon-capacity tank built in 1937 to store water for the park. The tube-like structure is 25 feet in diameter and has an observation deck with an elevation of nearly 1,361 feet.
“I grew up in the North Hills and always wanted to go up there,” Rigdon said. “About 10 years ago I got permission to do that and it really blew me away. The view was better than I ever expected it would be.”
Rigdon said there is strong support among Friends members and the public for the tower to be restored, but finding money for the project is tough.
“The subject of the tower comes up every couple of months and I think there's no question that people want to see it fixed,” he said. “But it comes down to priorities. We had 20 year of deferred maintenance in our parks” and projects such as fixing roads and replacing picnic shelters take priority.
Rigdon said the tower has not been totally neglected.
In 2010, the movie company Dreamworks Productions donated $10,000 to Allegheny County to restore the terrazzo floor on the tower's observation deck, which depicts constellations. The repairs were made so filmmakers could complete scenes for the teen sci-fi film “I am Number Four.”
County Councilman Ed Kress said completing restoration of the tower would cost about $500,000. But he does not necessarily want to see public money used for the project.
“One way it could be done is to try to get private money for the work with some sort of fundraising effort, or by selling naming rights (to the tower),” he said.
Kress said the tower, which stands near the North Park Lodge, also might become part of a venue rented out for parties, weddings or other events.
“The tower is such as icon for the park and definitely worth preserving,” he said.
Rigdon agrees that coming up with alternatives to pay for repairs, that don't rely on tax dollars, might be the best approach.
“The county is responsible for nine parks,” Rigdon said. “So we have to share the love and make the necessary improvements to all of them.”
Tony LaRussa is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-772-6368 or tlarussa@tribweb.com.
