Looking back at 2023: water tower repainted after delays

Plans to repaint the water tower at Chautauqua Park got underway July 20 with power washing and stripping of the existing paint.
Plans called for the project to be completed in only a few weeks, however, Red Oak city administrator Kyra Smith said there were unforseen delays.
“Weather and the hot temperatures could not be avoided. The amount of water in the tower that flows through in the summer months is about 1 million gallons of water per day and the temperature of the water is always around 55 degrees,” said Smith. “Think of it as a glass of iced tea on a hot summer day. The tower will sweat and because of the color it will attract sunlight more and cause more sweating than if the tower was white.  Because of the high temps and sweating happening, it delayed the painting process since you can’t paint over water and have it look nice and seal like it should.”
Final touches on the project were completed at the end of October.