The complicated feat of moving a more than a century-old former water tower 300 yards from Solano County to Sacramento County is symbolic of the problems that the surrounding Delta is facing, according to scientist Kenneth Scheidegger.
When the tower is raised at its new home as part of the Discover the Delta Foundation Education Center next week, Scheidegger said that the mighty effort will have cost at least a half-million dollars to move, refurbish, prepare its foundation and decorate it with artwork. Moving the 80,000-pound water tower from one side of the Delta to the other took two cranes, some tug boats and PG&E assistance because the tower’s massive size wouldn’t allow it to fit on the Rio Vista Bridge, so it was cut into two pieces.
“This is a large attempt to donate to an educational project on the Delta. The Dutra Group decided to donate it to use as a bit of a landmark,” said Scheidegger, the founder and president of the Education Center. “Farmers and community members here are prepared to rally around this as something positive happening in the Delta. The Delta is in need of something that counters all of the negative vibes that have been around here for so long.”
Built in 1904, the tower was used for the Del Monte packing house and was the largest one of its kind in the world, according to Discover the Delta acting Executive Director Laura Gregory Lea.
Over the years, it outlived its usefulness and was no longer used to hold water in Rio Vista.
“It was a two-tank tower and held 55,000 gallons of water,” Lea said. “One tank was used for water for the then 600 residents and the other was used to push asparagus through for the Del Monte packing house.”
The once-rusted tower will soon have a red beacon on top illuminated at night and equipped with four skycams that can be watched from the Discover the Delta website. Discover the Delta officials are touting it as “a new beacon of hope and pride for the entire California Delta.”
The Education Center is slated to open in 2013 as a 8,000-square-foot, two-story building full of information about the Delta’s history, waterways, ecosystems and agriculture. The center will be surrounded by five acres of outdoor displays along a half-mile trail with a pond.
“We are trying to approach the Delta story in a positive way,” Scheidegger said. “There are a lot of positive things out here and nobody has ever stopped to tell the public about it.”
IF YOU GO
What: Historic Dutra Tower unveiling
When: 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. June 1
Where: Discover the Delta Foundation Education Center, east of the Rio Vista Bridge
Info: www.discoverthedelta.org
