STANFIELD — For a century the Stanfield water tower has stood over the town and provided a recognizable landmark for generations of locals, and now, after three years of work, the 50,000-gallon water tower nearly is complete with renovations.

With painters adding their finishing touches in the next two weeks, Stanfield residents will be able to see the completed tower with up-to-date metalwork, a fresh coat of paint and new lighting, according to Scott Morris, Stanfield’s public works director.

Morris said an inspection a few years ago of the out-of-use water tower had shown deficiencies in the structure, and the faced the choice of either tearing down the tower or fixing it up.

The price to tear it down, however, was the same price to fix it. With this in mind, the city manager put out a survey to gauge public support for the two options, and the consensus was to keep it.

“For a good portion of the people who have been here for a long time, they wanted to see it stay,” Morris said.

Like for many in Stanfield, the tower is an important fixture for Morris and an important part of the town’s history.

According to historical city minutes, a special council meeting was held Oct. 2, 1919, to accept bids for the construction of the new city waterworks. Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company won the bid to install the tower for $9,410 and finished construction in 1920. The whole water system was approved with a 20-year loan of $30,000 — or about $470,000 in today’s dollar value.

And, with the 150-foot tower visible from Interstate 84, it has been a marker for generations of families coming home.

Morris explained when he was a child and returning from trips to Portland with his family, they’d see the tower and get excited they were almost home. He said the tower is a logo and a landmark for the town.

When Stanfield residents decided to refurbish the water tower, planners and city officials decided to split the $180,000 budget into thirds. Construction began in October 2019, with the first year dedicated to fulfilling different Oregon Occupational Safety and Health requirements and fixing structural issues. The second year was focused on metalwork and finishing up the structural repairs, while the third year was focused completely on painting, which was done by the Pittsburgh Paint Company.

Along with updating structural issues and painting an additional “STANFIELD” on the other side of the tower, the team decided to add programmable lights to the tower. The illumination was red, white and blue lights for Fourth of July, but can change the colors for various events, holidays and special occasions, such as blue and gold for Stanfield High School’s graduation.

Morris is glad residents wanted to keep the water tower, and they were able to keep an important part of the town alive.

“This is us,” he said.