🎥 City commission to consider historical mural on water tower

A simulation of the historical mural Hays artist Dennis Schiel hopes to paint on the 1-million gallon Sternberg water tower.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

The two water towers in Hays are scheduled for repainting next year.

Local artist Dennis Schiel painted large historical murals on two Hays buildings and is proposing to do the same on the city’s larger one million gallon water tower just east of the Sternberg Museum of Natural History.

According to City Manager Toby Dougherty, in order to accommodate Schiel’s schedule for painting the mural wrap, the tower repainting would need to be completed in 2018.

The 500,000 gallon water tower north of Hays on Highway 183.

There are adequate funds available to repaint both water towers this year. One company would be hired to do both projects. “It’s an economy of scale,” Dougherty explained.

The 500,000 gallon water tower at 55th and U.S. Highway 183 was constructed in 1994. The Sternberg tower was built in 1974 and recoated in 1997. The paint is 21 years old and flaking which Dougherty said could expose lead if not addressed.

“This was actually noted back in the ’90s, the last time the tower was repainted,” Dougherty noted. “At that time they had the discussion of whether to cover it or to remediate the lead. They chose to cover it.

“The covering has held up well, pretty much for its useful life, but now we’re at a point where we need to remediate the lead.

“That entails essentially draping the entire water tower because you cannot have that lead dust contaminant polluting the area. So they’ll have to drape the tower, sand it down, remove all the lead paint, contain it, remove it off-site, and then repaint the tower. It’s quite an involved process,” Dougherty added.

It’s also much more expensive, with a cost estimate of $550,000, while the smaller north tower repainting is estimated to cost $100,000.

Hays city commissioners will consider Schiel’s mural proposal during their Thursday work session.

Other agenda items include discussion of a temporary traffic roundabout at the intersection of 27th Street and Canterbury Drive. Mayor James Meier has suggested the possibility of a mini-roundabout being installed after the restriping of Canterbury to three lanes which will be done later this year as part of the 2018 Street Maintenance Plan.

The complete March 1 agenda may be seen here.

The work session starts at 6:30 p.m. in Hays City Hall, 1507 Main.