How much is a smile worth? The city of Freeport, Minn., is aÂbout to find out.
For half a cenÂtuÂry now, travelers on busy InÂterÂstate 94 have been greetÂed by the smiley-faced Freeport waÂter tower. Built nearÂly 100 years ago, the tower first got its face in the early 1970s, when an unÂidentiÂfied local resÂiÂdent climbed up one night and paintÂed it.
TownsÂpeoÂple liked it so much that they put it on the city's ofÂfiÂcial seal.
"It took on a life of its own," said Mike Eveslage, mayÂor of the Stearns County town of 670 resiÂdents aÂbout 100 miles northÂwest of the Twin Cities. "That's our landÂmark. HonÂestÂly, that's probÂaÂbly our claim to fame."
The agÂing tower no longÂer holds waÂter — the city dediÂcatÂed a new tower in 2012. And now the fuÂture of the old tower is in doubt.
Rust is eviÂdent on the strucÂture, which may have afÂfectÂed its staÂbilÂiÂty. The city also has learnÂed that a 2003 reÂpaintÂing, which was supÂposed to get rid of old lead and chromiÂum-based paint, may not have done the job.
The City Council reÂcentÂly agreed to spend $2,500 to inÂspect the tower and check for hazÂardÂous chemiÂcals in the paint. DeÂpendÂing on the reÂsults, the city will face a deÂciÂsion on whethÂer to spend anyÂwhere from $50,000 to $150,000 to reÂpair the tower or tear down the nearÂly cenÂtuÂry-old landÂmark.
Eveslage, a formÂer high school hisÂtoÂry teachÂer, doesn't want the latÂter.
"As someÂbodÂy nosÂtalÂgic for hisÂtoÂry and sitÂting in the mayÂor's seat, I don't want it to be a pockÂmark on my reÂcord that it came down on my watch," he said. TownsÂpeoÂple are alÂreadÂy talkÂing aÂbout mountÂing a fundÂraisÂing camÂpaign, he addÂed, and Eveslage thinks resiÂdents will ralÂly around their tower.
"ReÂgardÂless of what it's going to end up costÂing, I've got to beÂlieve the peoÂple of our town are going to do a lot of things to keep it," he said.
"The city enÂgiÂneer back in 2012 recÂomÂmendÂed that the waÂter tower come down," Eveslage addÂed. "And he joked that he thought he was going to get dragged out in the street."
John Reinan • 612-673-7402