Farewell to a Macdonald Campus icon

Courtesy of HCR Photo

Mac water tower to be dismantled this summer after more than a century of service

By McGill Reporter Staff

McGill will proceed with the dismantling of the Macdonald Campus’s water tower this summer. As the Campus has been connected to the City of Montreal’s water distribution network since April 21, the tower and the Campus’s water treatment plant – which had provided potable drinking and fire fighting water to the Campus since the founding of Macdonald College in 1905 – are no longer required.

Maintaining the tower and its 44-foot tall steel water storage tank would generate high costs.

“In addition to the annual maintenance costs, a recent inspection revealed the tank and supporting structure would need extensive work requiring significant investment,” said Ron Proulx, Executive Director, Facilities Operations & Development. “Given current budgetary constraints, the University is unable to assume these additional costs.”

The University plans to officially commemorate what had become one of the most identifiable symbols of Macdonald Campus and a fixture of the landscape of Montreal’s West Island. Students, faculty and staff are invited to send suggestions on how the University could commemorate the tower by using the suggestion box at www.mcgill.ca/university-services/suggestions/.

Dismantling work is expected to get under way this summer and take 10 to 12 weeks to complete. The University apologizes for any disruption to pedestrian or vehicular traffic the work will cause.