If you grew up around here, you probably remember climbing the 198 steps to the top of the Compton Hill Water Tower for one of the best views in St. Louis. That was a while ago — the 179-foot Romanesque landmark near Grand and Russell has been shut down for years, its crumbling masonry shedding debris and forcing the city to fence the whole thing off.
Now there’s a plan to save it, and it’s going to take millions. The Water Tower & Park Preservation Society is kicking off a three-year campaign to raise roughly $8 million to restore the 128-year-old tower — one of only seven surviving standpipe towers in the entire country. Built in 1898 for about $48,000 and retired from water service in 1929, the tower is still owned by the city, but the water division can’t bankroll the rescue alone.
Board member Keith Wolkoff doesn’t sugarcoat where things stand. Decades of structural analyses all point the same way: the tower is getting worse, and the damage is speeding up. Vertical cracks in the façade — possibly dating back to the original construction — let water seep into the masonry, and then St. Louis winters do their thing: freeze-thaw cycles wedge the cracks open wider every year. Repairs from the late 1990s are at the end of their life, and some of those materials may never have been right for a historic structure. “It continues to deteriorate every winter,” Wolkoff said. “It’s literally tearing itself apart over time.”
Before any big restoration can start, the society needs about $500,000 for preconstruction costs — grant writing, fundraising help, and the detailed construction documents needed before anyone can bid the work. The city says it’s committed to the effort, with Director of Public Utilities Niraj Patel pointing to grants and partnerships, but no city funding has been identified or appropriated yet.
Want the full picture? The preservation society is holding a town hall on Tuesday, October 20, at 6:30 p.m. at Power Creative, 3221 Oak Hill in Tower Grove South. Board members will walk through the inspection findings — including a drone survey that photographed hundreds of problem spots — and lay out what’s next. They’re also recruiting volunteers with experience in fundraising, grant writing, design, and construction.
Eight million dollars is a tough lift. But the alternative is watching one of St. Louis’s most beautiful landmarks crumble past the point of no return. With the right people — and the right money — those 198 steps could open again someday.
