When Wetaskiwin real estate agent Terry Hoffman was a little boy, he used to toboggan on the hill by the communitys water tower. Now, nearly a half century later, a campaign launched by him to save the beloved landmark has raised more than $118,000 of its $125,000 goal.

When we started this year a year and a half ago, we thought we were just going to save a part of Wetaskiwin history, he says. We didnt know just how significant this tower is to the history of the community.

Research initially revealed that the tower, built in 1909, is the oldest in Alberta. But then Hoffman and the volunteers at the Wetaskiwin Memorial Fund Society dug a little more and confirmed that it the oldest in western Canada. They now believe it is the oldest functioning municipal water tower in the country.

Other communities build giant eggs and perogy on a fork as tourist attractions, Hoffman notes. Well, Wetaskiwin already has the oldest water tower in Canada. Cant get any older than that!

The 42 metre-high structure has towered above Wetaskiwin for 95 years, watching as it grew from a tiny farming settlement alongside the Canadian Pacific Railway into a modern little city of more than 11,000 residents. It was built by the Ontario Wind Engine and Pump Company, the firm that made many of the water towers in Canada in the early years of the 20th century.

Like the Ford Model Ts of the time, the tower came in black. Its leg supports and tank were constructed of steel, while a wooden enclosure on the outside of the tank acted as an insulator to keep the cold winter winds from freezing the 100,000 gallons (454,000 litres) of water inside. That amount of water is enough to nearly fill one of Edmontons indoor swimming pools.

Over the years, the color has gone from black to white and more recently was dressed up with some colour and a WETASKIWIN designation, drawn by students who won a local competition. What hasnt changed for nearly a century is its basic function, which is to supply water to houses and businesses.

Its ten-storey height gives it the enormous power of gravity and the tower acts as a giant pressure relief valve, should there be a sudden surge in water pressure. It protects the system against damage, Hoffman notes.

Driving towards Wetaskiwin from any direction, the tower is the first visible sign of the settlement. Wetaskiwins next highest structures are just three stories. Like the prairie grain elevators, water towers have long been the signature landmarks of their communities but most of them have also vanished.

Nearby communities of Camrose, Ponoka and Leduc have demolished their water towers and Rimbey is preparing to yank theirs down. Two years ago, Hintons 1955 tower came tumbling down from the force of dynamite and steel-cutting explosives.

Just a few Alberta communities, aware of the heritage value, have managed to spare theirs. The tower in Lethbridge was saved when a developer agreed to make it into a restaurant.

But time has taken a toll on Wetaskiwins old steel giant. Its paint is chipping, cedar shingles are blowing off and its wooden ladder is rotten and unsafe. Several times a year, workers are hoisted by crane to change the lights in the 12-metre high antennas and to make sure the steel drum holding all that water is in satisfactory condition.

Wetaskiwin City Council, knowing that the tower is situated on a prime piece of developable land, toyed with the possibility that perhaps it should be demolished. But concerned citizens convinced them the old tower really was worth saving and council came up with $500,000 and named the rejuvenation of the water tower as its Centennial project for the communitys 100th anniversary in 2006.

The province agreed to contribute $125,000 for the refurbishment, leaving the work $125,000 short. Thats when the Wetaskiwin Memorial Society kicked into gear and donation seeking began in February 2003. Money arrived from as far away as Arizona and Hawaii, but most of the generous contributions have come from Edmonton and central Alberta.

Surging steel prices and the need to replace portions of the concrete footings have driven the total cost of the rejuvenation up to $988,000, but the extra money has been promised by the city. Earlier this month, scaffolding started going up around the tower and work will soon be underway.

The fund-raising campaign is nearly there but Hoffman says money is still needed for a few extra touches, like floodlights to show off the pride of the community when its all done. If the money to save the tower hadnt been raised, it would have been demolished at a cost of about $200,000. Refurbished, it could well last another 100 years.

Knowing that makes me feel a deeper sense of pride and achievement, Hoffman says. The people of my community did this and its a great accomplishment. We already have the Reynolds Alberta Museum and now, with the oldest operating water tower in the country, Wetaskiwin will be even more of a destination.

If you'd like to contribute to the fund-raising campaign, donations can be mailed to the Wetaskiwin Memorial Fund Society, PO Box 6641, Wetaskiwin, AB, T9A 2G3.

If youd like to offer your thoughts, please drop me an email at lawrenceherzog@hotmail.com. For information on reprints of previously published articles, check out my website at www.lawrenceherzog.com