Ever wonder how that lighthouse atop Lake Travis on our drive to Lakeway will ever save a 40 foot Sun Odyssey from crashing on the craggy rocks below The Oasis?
The lighthouse, just west of Mansfield Dam on Highway 620, is in fact a 25-year-old utility district water tank reenvisioned by Bill Ward, development manager of the development by Steiner-area builder Toll Brothers that surrounds the tower. Coincidentally, I have a recollection of meeting Bill, in passing, at Steiner Steakhouse one night; this, is why I love the community we have in Steiner Ranch.
To the planned community of executive homes that broke ground about 15 years ago, the utilitarian water tank was more than out-of-place. With the tree-covered hills, steep ravines, and spectacular lake vistas available to the home owners now atop those hills, a water tower that looked more like a Soviet rocket just wouldn’t do. The tank stands in the middle of five lots on a central hilltop 50 feet higher than the highway and with beautiful views 50 miles in every direction.
“The water district was planning to paint the tower, but I knew we still weren’t likely to sell many houses on the hillside beneath it,” shared Ward with the Austin Business Journal. “We had to do something, but I wasn’t sure what. Coincidentally, while visiting my mother one day, I noticed her collection of miniature lighthouses and that’s when the idea hit me.”
Building the Lake Travis Lighthouse
Travis County Water Control and Improvement District #17 spent $70,000 on a complete inside and outside painting of the original water tank. The team of engineers, builders, architects, and consultants then went to work with another $110,000. Beige from the ground to the middle and dark green to the top, the 130-foot water tank suddenly started getting attention as four windows (fake) were placed along the tank’s side; placed appropriately to look as though they follow a staircase inside a lighthouse. The capping, dark green, cupola watchtower, appears to have the requisite revolving spot light but in fact features lights that alternatively dim and brighten to give the appearance of revolving.
The 15,000-pound cupola, a cupola by the way, is a small, dome-like, structure on top of a building usually to provide a lookout or to admit light and air (hey, I had to look it up so I may as well presume we’re all just as ignorant and share the description, no?), was a significant project as the weight prevents the cupola from being rested directly atop the old water tank. Designed to be wider than the tank itself, the cupola is installed so that the weight arcs inward, distributing the weight.
Interestingly, it is still a water tank and that discovery made me pause and wonder what could be done about other eye sores throughout a community. Anyone else hate the fact that there is a man-hole cover sticking a good foot up in the air from the ground where kids play soccer at John Simpson Park? Why do the utility lines throughout Four Points have to remain so utilitarian? And what do we have in store from the underway pumping station that will draw water from a Lake so significantly drained as it is?
From water tanks to junction boxes, every community is littered with the utilities that make it all possible. It’s amazing what a great design and a little architecture can do. Just think, the right design makes us feel a little safer about sailing on the treacherous waters of Lake Travis.
That’s neat to know – thanks Paul. I like seeing that “lighthouse” from so many areas around here, including my front yard.