Damaged old water tower to be torn down today in West Carrollton

A semi slammed into the bottom of the water tower last week on E. Central Avenue and S. Elm Street.

The city will detour traffic around the area of south Elm Street and Central Avenue starting this morning at 9 am. until 1 p.m. this afternoon.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Semi slams into water tower, damaging it; we now know what’s next for the tower

The detours will be:

• W. Central Avenue (𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝)- W. Central to Walnut, Walnut to Main St. (right turn), Main St. to Locust (right turn), Locust to E. Central Ave.
• E. Central Avenue (𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝)- E. Central to Locust (right turn), Locust to Main St. (left turn), Main St. to Walnut (left turn), Walnut to W. Central Ave.
• S. Elm Street (𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝)- S. Elm St. to Slonaker (right turn), Slonaker to Locust (left turn), and Locust to E. Central Ave.

People will also not be allowed to park on parts of Walnut, Main, and Locust Streets starting at 8 a.m. until 1 p.m., West Carrollton Police wrote on social media.

A breakdown of the detour can be viewed here.

>>ORIGINAL COVERAGE: Semi slams into water tower in West Carrollton

The city said it will cost about $4,500 to tear down the old water tower.

It would have cost over $400,000 to repair the tower, not including ongoing maintenance costs.

“We understand the removal of the Water Tower holds much interest to the community,” the city wrote on its social media page.

The city added that the tower was also rusting from the inside out.

The water tower was built in the 1930s for the paper plant that used to sit on the corner of Central and Elm, according to the city.

At one time, the water tower carried raw water to the manufacturing plant to produce paper and was never part of the city’s water system.

The city added that it never owned the tower and hired an inspector to determine its feasibility and cost to repair it.