City of Rockwall’s ‘Old Rusty’ water tower set to be dismantled

ROCKWALL, TX (July 25, 2022) – The City of Rockwall’s water tower on Boydstun Avenue (next to Fire Station One), nicknamed “Old Rusty” by some on social media, is set to be dismantled starting this week. The water storage tank was constructed in 1978, and served its purpose for 30 years, when it was taken offline in 2008.

To take its place, newer water towers were constructed at North Country Lane and Interstate 30 to meet demand. As the city grew, the need for greater capacity and higher elevations made the Boydstun water tower inefficient and ultimately obsolete as a water source.

However, in the years since it was decommissioned, the structure’s purpose evolved from a water source to a revenue source—with telecommunications and broadband providers located on the tank. Then the time finally came when the tower either needed to be resurfaced and painted or deconstructed. Over the past few months, the cell providers have been relocated to the radio tower adjacent to the water tower in preparation for the dismantling.

The City’s contractor will begin to deconstruct the water tower over the next 30 days or so. The process includes using a blow torch to cut the water tower into smaller pieces and lowering them to the ground, working from the top down. Watch for regular updates and pictures of the process as it happens.

Submitted press release.