Round Rock City Council approved a contract to rehabilitate the historic downtown water tower at its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, June 27. The work will include minor repairs and repainting the interior and exterior of the tank and support structure.

The existing paint will be completely stripped and recoated. This process will involve a complete containment shroud over the tank to ensure that stripping the exterior paint will not affect nearby businesses.

Inside the containment, all of the blast material (steel grit) and all of the stripped paint material will be vacuumed. The material will be filtered and the steel grit will be recovered so it can be reused. During this process, all of the residue from the blasting will be filtered and captured in drums for proper disposal. Air and soil testing will occur before and after the project to ensure there is no contamination from the work.

Upon completion, a new, decorative LED lighting system will be installed in time for the holiday season.

Schedule:

Bid Award at Council                                                    June 27

Contractor may begin prep work at site                     July 15

Exterior containment system (shroud) installed       Aug. 16-23

Shroud is removed                                                       Sept. 30

Restoration complete                                                   Nov. 12

Lighting installation                                                      Nov. 1-30

The historic Round Rock icon was originally constructed in 1935 by the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company.  It is a 50,000 gallon riveted steel tank that stands approximately 140 feet in height.  The tank was taken out of commission as a water tank in 1986 and has since served as an iconic symbol of historic downtown Round Rock.