What to Know
- The 170-foot-tall water tower along Interstate I-35E was built in 1959 and only had a lifespan of 50 years.
- The Fighting Farmers logo featuring Big John will be incorporated into the concrete walls on the embankment of TxDOT's new I-35E/Main Street interchange being installed early next year.
- The city expects 60% of the tower to be torn down by the end of Wednesday.
Workers began tearing down the iconic Lewisville Fighting Farmers water tower along Interstate 35E at Main Street Wednesday.
Texas Sky Ranger flew over as crews worked to dismantle the 170-foot-tall structure. The city expects 60% of the tower to be torn down by the end of the first day of demolition.
The tower was built in 1959 when only 5,000 people lived in Lewisville. The population has grown to more than 110,000 since then, and the tower isn't big enough to get water to everyone.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
The city says that type of tower has a functional lifespan of about 50 years, when the cost to repair, restore and repaint the tower exceeded $780,000 and community fundraisers failed to raise more than $10,000, the tower was decommissioned.
"Faced with such a large expense that would have to be repeated every 20-25 years, the City Council did not support the project," James Kunke, community relations and tourism director for the city of Lewisville.
There were big concerns in the community about preserving the tower's Fighting Farmers logo featuring Big John so the city developed a plan.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
The Fighting Farmers mascot will be included in decorative concrete murals alongside the I-35E/Main Street interchange which is being rebuilt by the Texas Department of Transportation early next year.
"There are similar displays at the rebuilt interchanges at Garden Ridge and FM 407. Two of the Main Street panels have been redesigned to reflect a Fighting Farmers theme," Kunke said.
The embankment liners will be the length of two 18-wheelers according to our partners at The Dallas Morning News.
