The long fought over McLean water tower is now fully restored after it was originally set to be removed in 2023.
The nonprofit CORE of McLean [Community Organization for Revitalization and Expansion] led the project, along with the leadership of Director Jeff Hake.
“It feels so good,” Hake laughed about the project's completion.
“I know eventually I’ll just get used to it, but, still, every time I go by that water tower and I see that mural up there, and how good the entire tower looks, it’s still just a thrill to know that we pulled the whole thing off.”
The “whole thing” is a story that started in 2017. The tower was decommissioned that year, in favor of a larger one, and the village board of trustees voted to remove the tower in 2023.
After building community support, CORE announced the tower would be refurbished for the Route 66 Centennial.
“After being told that it was structurally sound and that it didn’t have lead paint or anything, we worked with a company called Hydro-Vision… this family-owned business that has done a lot of work in water towers,” Hake said.
In addition, Troy Freeman of FreeSky studios in Bloomington was recruited to design the mural, which was just finished on the bowl of the tower. Work on the rest of the tower was completed in June.
The new design is splashed with all the markers of McLean, Hake said, including bikers on the newly renovated path, a landscape ready for harvest, a diner scene evoking the Dixie Travel Plaza and more.
“So, it’s a very colorful mural. Obviously, it’s way up high in the sky so it had to not be too complicated. And our mural artist, Troy Freeman, did a really good job of making these really big, bold style choices that you can see from a lot of different corners of town,” said Hake.
The last of the water tower work was completed in enough time to show off the village for CORE’s 13th annual 6.6 km run/walk along Route 66, which goes from Funks Grove to McLean, known as Get Your 6.6 on Route 66.
“This one is extra special one for us both because of the centennial of Route 66, and also us completing the water tower, which a lot of the funding that went into that restoration work was coming from funds that we raised from prior years of the run/walk,” he said. “[Participants] run the route, and then once they’re done there…there’s a big party on our village square.”
While accomplishment and gratitude are swimming around as prominent feelings at the tower’s completion, Hake said there is more to do. As is the case for other businesses basking in the centennial of Route 66, he wants to see what more can be done.
The tower sits just outside McLean's downtown square. A grain bin nearby recently got a mural of its own. It also features the Dixie and another attraction, the McLean Depot, a hobby shop in the spot where the Chicago and Mississippi Railroad [later the Chicago and Alton Railroad] ran through the town. At the bottom, the scene includes pinball flippers, a nod to Arcadia, which officially opened its fourth storefront in McLean this month.
“It’s really cool seeing tourists come through town taking photos of the water tower, taking photos of the grain bin mural, posing with it, parking their cool cars in front of it,” Hake said.
Hake said he would like to see another restaurant in McLean or other businesses.
“I’d love to see our town have a small grocery store again; it’s been decades and I’d love to see that come back,” he said. “And I think [CORE of McLean] is in a position to support that — not to lead on it, but to support that with all the work that we do in the village, and beyond that.”
