The water tower on the Maize campus is set to come down within the next month. It has been in use since 1960.

Richard Bell, the assistant superintendent of personnel and operations, said the tower was originally built on the Heights High School campus but when city water became available to them, the tower was moved in 1994. 

“The water tower was initially installed in Maize in 1994 to serve as the domestic water source for the soon-to-be-built Maize High School as well as Pray-Woodman, Vermillion and Maize Elementary,” Bell said.

He said the tower is going down because Maize schools have been connected to city water for years. The water tower has since been used for ground irrigation. The water tower has a 50,000-gallon capacity. That far exceeds what is needed for irrigation and the addition of the turf to the sporting fields further diminished the need for that irrigation.

“In addition to reduced demand, we have repaired several small leaks to keep the tower in service,” Bell said. “Much more work would be necessary to keep it long-term.”

In order for the tower to be removed, the two-way radio repeater tower that allows communication between the buildings and buses had to be relocated. A new repeater tower has been installed into a light pole at the Maize High football field. 

“The communications portion of the project cost approximately $36,000,” Bell said. “The actual tower demolition will cost approximately $71,000 and the work will be done by Hutton Construction.” The removal will cost approximately $107,000 in total. 

The exact date of the removal is still to be determined but the plan is to have the water tower down in the next month.