Ontario, Canada Recollections

Recollections (1980s, 1990s, 2000s)

During the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, I remember seeing the now-demolished water tower that was at 403 Alma St. (the south-east corner of Alma St. and Venetian Dr.) in Amherstburg, Ontario.

The tank was supported by a tall cylindrical concrete structure. The tank itself was also cylindrical, with a diameter larger than that of the supporting column, and it seemed to be covered by some sort of beige-colored siding or cladding. The names “AMHERSTBURG”, “ANDERDON”, and “MALDEN” prominently appeared on the tank in large black capital letters.

The water tower was one of the tallest structures in the town itself. It could be visible from some distance away, especially when driving west into Amherstburg along Alma St., or when driving south along Thomas Rd., for example.

I don’t recall seeing any other water towers in the region that had a similar design.

Other Information

Google Street View imagery from June 2012 shows the water tower prior to its demolition. Imagery from April 2012 shows how the tower appeared from Thomas St., between Texas Rd. and Alma St., when driving south. May 2014 imagery shows the lot after the tower had been demolished, but before the subsequent housing was built.

Some documents within the Town of Amherstburg’s Record Repository mention or pertain to the water tower (manual navigation is necessary; direct links do not appear to work):

• By-Laws / Pre-Amalgamation / Amherstburg / 1986 / “By-law 1907 Park Place Subdivision Agreement.pdf”: PDF page 22 features a diagram depicting a map of the area around the water tower, with the water tower labeled as, “500,000 I G WATER TOWER”.

  

• By-Laws / Pre-Amalgamation / Amherstburg / 2005 / “2005-45 - Agreement with Watech Services for Water Tower Repair.pdf”: Includes some technical documents.
  • PDF page 17 mentions, “The approximate ½ million gallon elevated water tank is of wire wound prestressed gunite concrete construction and is owned by the Town of Amherstburg and operated by OCWA.”

There are some articles, documents, web pages, etc., that mention the now-demolished water tower:

• “Tight squeeze for Amherstburg tower demo”: Describes the demolition of the water tower. Includes some photos of the demolition.
• “Priestly awarded water tower demolition” (2012-10-09).
• Certificate of Completion overview.
• “Amherstburg sees increase in building activities in 2012” (2012-12-10): Mentions the demolition.
• “Town of Amherstburg Southeast Quadrant Sanitary and Water Servicing Study” (2018-01-04).