For three decades Wes Thurmond has seen the feel-good messages proclaimed by Gwinnett County’s famed I-85 water towers.
But as the county began demolishing them this week to save money, Thurmond didn’t feel so bad.
“I have been looking at those things for 30 years at least, but certainly don’t need them,” said Thurmond, who lives in Peachtree Corners. “Gwinnett needs to do everything in its power to save money. I already pay over $3,000 a year in property taxes.”
Other county residents echoed similar sentiments as a contractor began disassembling the twin towers from top to bottom.
The towers proclaim “Gwinnett is Great” and “Success Lives Here.” But by Wednesday afternoon, drivers heading north on I-85 read only “ ... is Great” on one of the towers, which are located on Goshen Springs Road near Jimmy Carter Boulevard.
The 140-foot tanks – one built in 1968, the other in 1972 – once held 2 million gallons of water, helped pressurize area water mains and provided water in times of high demand.
But as generations of commuters can testify, holding water wasn’t their only purpose. They served as giant billboards alerting travelers to Gwinnett’s greatness and became a local landmark.
While the county developed more sophisticated ways to market itself, water system improvements made the towers obsolete. And county officials began to question the cost of maintaining them. Their last paint job, completed in 2000, cost $183,000.
In March the county Board of Commissioners approved a $149,000 contract with Tristar of America Inc. to demolish the towers and several other water tanks and pump stations.
The company already has taken down a tank on Medlock Bridge Road and another in Duluth. After removing the I-85 towers over the next three to four weeks, Tristar will move on to pump stations on Old Peachtree Road and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.
The county expects to save about $100,000 annually in operating costs and a similar amount in capital costs when all the structures are demolished. That means it will recoup the cost of the demolition in less than a year.
Local historian and journalist Elliott Brack hates to see the twin towers go. He likes them so much he used a photo of one for the cover of his 2008 history “Gwinnett: A Little Above Atlanta.”
“Water towers aren’t beautiful, but you sort of knew you were home when you saw that,” he said.
Ami Bryant sees it differently. She’s glad county officials are finding ways to cut costs.
“This is what we elected our officials for, to make logical and economical decisions that ultimately result in making Gwinnett a better place to live,” Bryant said. “Knocking down the towers does not make Gwinnett less great. In fact, it makes it greater.”
Tristar will cut the tanks into small pieces and take them to a scrap metal yard, where they likely will be shredded and shipped to a smelting facility to be melted for recycling.
To view progress on the demolition, visit www.constructioncam.com/tristar/index.htm
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