|
Roland Water Tower Preservation Campaign |
||
|
|
Roland Water Tower (Photo: Monumentalcity.net.) Note: The documents below are listed in order of their being received by the web-site editor. In other words, the newer the item, the further down the page it will be. |
|
(Photos: Monumentalcity.net.) Along with the Roland Water Tower, the West Arlington tower, above, is a stately reminder that utilities could once be pleasing as well as utilitarian. |
Background Located in Roland Park's smallest plat, Plat 4, the Roland Water Tower is one of the Roland Park area's most well known historic structures. It is situated on one of Baltimore City's highest points and commands a breathtaking view of the surrounding area. The tower was originally built in 1904-1905 to provide water for the adjacent areas, but fell into disuse when Baltimore City in 1930 moved to using reservoirs exclusively for its water supply. In recent years, the tower has deteriorated severely — to such an extent that it was fenced off in July 2009 to prevent passersby getting too close to it, and thus potentially being hit by falling debris. The tower is one of only two such water towers in Baltimore, the other being the slightly larger West Arlington Water Tower. West Arlington is about two miles northwest of Druid Hill Park, sandwiched between Liberty Road to the south and Reisterstown Road to the north. The West Arlington tower, pictured at left (click thumbnails), is in a similar state of disrepair. For readers interested in seeing it, it is located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Oakford and Granada avenues. In summer 2009, a new preservation group was formed with a view to securing the rehabilitation of the Roland tower, the "Friends of the Roland Water Tower" (FRWT). The purpose of this page is to narrate its travails and, one hopes, successes in preserving the tower. On July 2, 2009, the Roland Park Civic League voted to support the efforts of the FRWT. If you would like to get involved in the preservation effort, please contact the FRWT at e-mail adress RolandH2OTower@yahoo.com, or visit the group's Facebook page at http://apps.facebook.com/causes/298295.
D.P. Munro September 7, 2009 The opinions expressed in the above writing and throughout this web page are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or stated policy positions of the Roland Park civic associations. |
|
(Photo: Tinted period photo, unknown photographer.) |
Friends of Roland Water Tower: Mission Statement x Our Beliefs x In consideration of the facts that: • The 105-year-old Roland Water Tower is a building of historical value;
• The Roland Water Tower is a gateway landmark anchoring the communities of Cross Keys, Evergreen, Hampden, Hoes Heights, Keswick, Medfield, Roland Park, and Wyndhurst;
xx xx Our Mission x The Friends of the Roland Water Tower is an organization committed to restoring the Tower to a state of engineering stability and aesthetic beauty, as well as exploring strategies to foster stewardship for the tower and surrounding green space for future generations. — FRWT, Summer 2009 |
