Sulphur Springs Water Tower

As a kid heading to Busch Gardens, the tall white tower looming over the Hillsborough River along I-275 caught my attention and imagination. Its crenellated crown and tall, white-washed visage was convincing as the remnants of a fort or watch tower, protecting the city from Pirates or the English.  The crumbling rampart and moss covered north face added a ghostly tint to the fantasy.  

The tower was built in 1927 to supply water pressure to the Sulphur Springs Hotel, located across what is now Bird Street.   At 210 feet tall, it held 125,000 gallons of spring water, a fraction of Tampa’s current water consumption of 50 millions gallons a day.  Although never used for anything other than water storage, the interior is large and the first 7 stories were nebulously slated to be “clubrooms.”  I suspect a 1920s’ meaning lost to me.  Sources differ as to whether an elevator delivered guests from the bottom to the top to enjoy what is probably still the best view of the river in Tampa.   I doubt its inclusion, as there are no external support structures for one, and the interior seems too small.

The site apparently housed a drive-in theater beginning in 1951 and going through at least the 1970s when one could still see the historic hotel across the street.  Ironically the hotel was torn down during 1970s to expand the parking lot of the now declining Tampa Greyhound Racetrack.  It’s unclear when the theater closed, but it is unlikely it survived into the 1980s.  Through the intervening decades, the land fell into disuse and an icon that continued to be part of many Tampanians’ commute was forgotten.  

At the turn of the 21st century, the local drugstore boom reminded us of the tall tower hiding in plain sight.  Walgreens was interested in the land, though probably not the part with the tower.  Local dismay and a sympathetic mayor moved the city council to purchase the land and in 2003 the tower was unsealed and cleaned.  The River Tower Park opened in 2005 featuring a lit tower at night.

The view from the KMart parking lot across Bird St.  Although you can drive into the park, there is no parking lot.

Walking up to the Tower.  The land has some old oaks and the city has placed picnic tables beneath them.  This would be a good spot to relax and read a book while the chaos of the city provides white noise.

Although the tower was cleaned internally, it's paint job is about 30 years old.  The paint is supposed to deter graffiti but seems to be poor at repelling mold.

A closeup of the tower top shows rust stains and moss or mold.  Also, the upper crenulations are crumbling.

All the lower windows are sealed by metal or wood, but the upper, out of reach openings are open.  When the tower was restored in 2003, pigeons were living in these upper floors.  I was disappointed it wasn't bats.

All the lower windows had this characteristic outline with an angle at the top.  There must have been an ornate frame.

On top of each buttress are these reliefs.  This one was the most intact.

One of the damaged reliefs show the rebars that run throughout the tower.

This is the only door that is serviceable.  Before the 2003 renovation, all the doors were sealed.  This one was cut open.  Also, like the low windows, there seemed to have once been an ornate frame.

The door had a curious opening.

The view inside.  You can see the "safety" railing along the radius.  To the right is the central structure which holds the pipes.  The gap between then center and walkway is the spring!  Standing at the door, you can hear water sloshing in the spring and feel cool damp air.

Scratched into the door is the word "Beware."

The city has taken good first steps to preserve this quirky piece of Tampa tourism history.  The lighting structures are visible here.

Much work is still needed and I'd like to see a full restoration of the tower.

Maybe we will be able to enjoy the view from top in the future.

A few more pictures are in the gallary that didn't make this post.