April 25

A mural for Maple Leaf's water tower?

Uncategorized

10  comments

Annie emails: “I saw an article in Maple Leaf Life back in August of 2010 associated with a media release to keep the water tower in Maple Leaf.

“I’m an artist taking a mural class at North Seattle College and live a few blocks from the water tower. One of my assignments is to propose a public mural, and I couldn’t help but think about a hypothetical proposal for the water tower to have a facelift!

“This is hypothetical as an assignment, but I’ll be designing and proposing with all considerations a mural to be hypothetically painted. I’m interested in information to do my project. Measurements are a must. This will potentially be a plan the city may want to use.

“Do you know where I could access the schematic plan for the 1948 build of the tower? Do you know who’s in charge of making a decision about the tower’s aesthetics? Any opinions about the message of the artwork?

“We could create a poll and ask on the blog what people want to see.”

We’ll put Annie in touch with Andy Ryan, media relations coordinator for Seattle Public Utilities.

The tower, as we’ve reported, has now been empty of water for years, and will not be returned to service. It doesn’t meet modern earthquake standards.

The city is leaving it up as a landmark (and platform for antennas). Other suggestions here have included turning it into an observation platform, a rotating restaurant or a  hawk aerie.

About the author 

Sara W

You may also like

Sephora coming to Ballard Blocks 2

Sephora coming to Ballard Blocks 2

Self-Defense Class

Self-Defense Class

Fall Budget // Accountability Partners on SPD’s Crowd Control Policies // Internet for All // COVID Rental Assistance // Community News You Can Use

Fall Budget // Accountability Partners on SPD’s Crowd Control Policies // Internet for All // COVID Rental Assistance // Community News You Can Use

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Great idea, Annie. We’d love to see something happen with that water tower in the future.

    I like the idea of adding to the existing design. That water tower is pretty iconic, and updating its old design without replacing it is a great way to connect Maple Leaf’s past with its present.

  2. Not to be a bummer, but I think it is lovely just as it is. I like how the slightly faded mural blends into the skyline and is not too bright or gaudy.

  3. Hi all!

    Thank you so much for publishing this. I would love to get this going. For my assignment, I needed a space by Monday with measurements and details about the space. Since I’ve written to Andy Ryan and haven’t heard back (I sent that email earlier this week), I’ve selected a wall in University Heights community center and been approved for actually getting to paint it. I’ll keep my eyes open for more info on the ML Water Tower and see what I can come up with as time passes and more details emerge. Since this is counting for a graded assignment, I didn’t have the luxury of waiting for the information I need to get started.

    I think it’s a great discussion point though. I saw an article quite a few years old proposing a facelift and obviously nothing happened. If anyone has more info on how to make some movement towards actually getting this done please let me know. I’d love to help!

    We can see this tower from many different points around this city. It would be fun to give it a refreshing look representative of our sweet neighborhood.

    MLL: The tank has been repainted.

  4. Well, off the top of my head, how about keeping the same theme that’s up there and just make the artwork more detailed and modern.

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

Subscribe to our newsletter now!