On April 6, 1914, the Almont Village Council approved the construction of a water tower downtown. This tower replaced the tower located on the median of Centennial Avenue, which was constructed about 1882.
The tower cost $4,400 to construct and held 50,000 gallons. It was one of the new additions to the Village that was promoted at the 1914 Homecoming celebration.
In 2008, a 300,000-gallon tower was engineered by Rowe Inc. and constructed by McGuire Steel. The new water tower was constructed in the “Industrial Park”, which is located on the north side of town and south of Tubsprings Road between Van Dyke and Howland Roads. After the completion of the new tower and the beginning of its use, the old water tower was disconnected from the water system. It remained empty for about a year. Further attempts to find someone to maintain it for historical purposes were not successful. The Village contracted with Isler Demolition to have the old water tower removed.
On Friday, February 13, Isler came in and started about 5:00 a.m. and by 1:28 p.m. the last of the tower was down. The tower was first cut into large sections that were hoisted by cranes to the ground and those sections were cut up further before being hauled off.
The old water tower served the community for 95 years. During that time, the Village population had more than tripled and it was time for an upgrade.
For people traveling on M-53, it had been a marker that indicated how close they were to home. To those individuals who loved looking at water towers, it was a piece of our history and heritage that was no more. Hopefully, the new water tower will serve these same purposes for many years to come.
