KSHB 41 reporter Grant Stephens covers downtown Kansas City, Missouri. He also focuses on stories of consumer interest. Share your story idea with Grant.
—
North Kansas City has a new landmark in its skyline after a bright blue water tank was installed atop the Fabri-Quilt building near Interstate 35.
The 111-year-old, three-story tank was taken down, restored and lifted back into place on Monday.
"We're adding something to the skyline today, and you're seeing it right here — bright blue tank coming up behind me," said North Kansas City Mayor Jesse Smith. "It's gonna sit on top of the Fabri-Quilt building and be visible from I-35 northbound and southbound... That way, you'll know you're coming into North Kansas City when you see a blue tower."
Smith said the addition of the 38,000-pound tank to the skyline is meaningful.
The project cost about $1 million to preserve the building's history.
"Six months in the making, but probably three years of planning," said Fabri-Quilt Chief Operating Officer Barry Oltsik. "The water tower has been on this building continuously up until the time we took it down in August. But literally, if you look at the before pictures, it just looked like a rust tower. Everything was rusted. The base was concrete and rebar was falling apart, and now it looks like a brand-new piece of work.”
Decades ago, water tanks were an industrial icon, dotting rooftops everywhere across the Midwest. They stored water for factories and offices before modern plumbing flushed out the need.
Looking at the metro today, almost all of the tanks are gone.
"We kind of look at it more as like art, in a sense, for North Kansas City because it's the only water tower that we're aware of still on top of the building in this area," Oltsik said.
Centric Vice President Tyler Harrelson said he feels pride in the project, which Project Manager Kenner Bowers described as "very unique."
"I mean, it's a water tower that has a lot of eyes on it from all across the city," Bowers said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
—
