Ulysses Water Tower 'Face Lift' Underway

There has been a lot of activity around the water tower in Ulysses of late. The structure was covered while workers began the task of restoring it, a project approved by Ulysses City Council in September 2022.

At the council's meeting last year, Pete Earles had approached the Council during their regular meeting, to discuss the project. Earles told the Council "the intent is to restore the tower to its original condition; sandblasting the inside and out, as well as primed and repainted with a new tigers logo."

For the water tower project, Earles informed councilmen that he had received four bids, which ranged from $689,000 to $359,000.

According to Earles, G&L Tank Sandblasting and Coatings LLC had done previous work in Hugoton and Andover.

G&L Tank Sandblasting and Coatings presented a bid for $359,000.

Then Ulysses City Administrator Alan Olson told the council he would like to use funds from the American Rescue Plan for the project.

Earles said after the notice to proceed, this project should take about two to three months to complete. Last year, Earles projected the  project would start in the spring.

The Council moved and passed the motion to accept G&L Tank Sandblasting and Coatings LLC’s bid for $359,000 for the Water Tower Project.

History

Information from the City Of Ulysses' website states the water tower was built in 1957 and holds 300,000 gallons. It is 150' to the top of the tower. The tower stores water and helps maintain steady water pressure throughout the system. Water is pumped from the reservoirs into the town lines. The water that isn't used by the town goes into the tower for storage. When the tower gets low on water a pump automatically turns on to fill the tower.