RED BAY | With the ground already cleared and leveled on the lot between Hotel Red Bay and Bank Independent, city officials and Civitan Club members are now eyeing the next major phase of construction: the relocation of the old water tower.
The move is planned to take place on Thursday, July 29, and will be a multi-agency effort. A lot of work has to be done before the tank, which dates back to Red Bay’s early years, can be moved.
“The process begins July 12 when some repairs will have to be made to the tank before it is moved,” Mayor Charlene Fancher said. “They’ve got to do a lot of preliminary work to do.”
The tank will have to be stabilized and secured before it is lowered off its current pedestal. From there plans are for the tank to be moved south across the railroad tracks and onto 1st Street NE. It will then make a left turn onto 4th Ave. SE before being placed in its new home on the lot.
Fancher said a lot of planning and coordinating will have to be done before the tank is moved. Workers from AT&T, Franklin Electric and MaxxSouth will have to move utility lines and two traffic lights in order to allow clearance for the tower. The two streets will have to be clear of parked vehicles and traffic will be blocked off while the tower is being moved.
“It’s much larger than you can imagine when you’re just standing up near it,” Fancher said.
A house moving company out of Huntsville will be handling the tower’s transfer.
Plans are for the tower to be joined by a decommissioned Illinois Central Railroad caboose that was secured last year by Jeremy Funderburk of Red Bay and donated to the Red Bay Museum by Dr. Cameron Guild of Brandon, Miss. Though the rail car was planned to be relocated to Red Bay by now it has not yet been able to be brought up here. The car itself will require a roof topper to be removed before it is able to be moved along state highways and will require some reconditioning when it arrives in Red Bay. It will sit on rails in the park. Fancher told members of the City Council a few months ago that based on the initial site plans the park will become a major asset to the city and an improvement to downtown once it is completed.
