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Achievements, Awards
and Goals
The “Friends of the Beaumont Water Tower” organized
in 1989, when three ladies had a passion to preserve the 1885 Frisco
built wooden water tower. We created many items to sell to strive
to meet our goals. We had to gain ownership of the property from
the railroad which was
timely. During this time we were fund raising, going to festivals
and in1993 we decided to have our own festival. Our festival is
an annual event to this date.
We raised the $8,200.00 needed for our part of the “Heritage
Trust Fund Grant” . The total preservation project was $ 41,000.00
and was completed in 1998 under the direction of Dan
Rockhill, Professor KU.
Goals the “Friends of the Water Tower Organization”
have completed.
* State and National Site Recognition
* Ownership of the property from Burlington Northern / Santa Fe
* Lighting effects for night on the tower
* Electric Pole with an electric panel for festival use
* Heritage Trust Fund Grant / Preservation project of the historic
tower
* Highway / Historic Marker Signs...took three years to complete
* Historic Marker built at the site
* Bronze History Plaque/ for visitors information
* We won the “Kansas Preservation Alliance Award for Excellence”
for the preservation
project, which is the Bronze Sunflower Plaque on the front of the
monument marker.
* Wiedemann Trust Grant for the HABS documentation of the tower,
Vince Haines and KU
Professor Steve Padget and his study team. This documentation has
been placed in the
Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The rest of the grant went
to landscaping and the iron fence project. The grant enabled us
to purchase materials needed and Senator Palmer’s
husband Tommy built the fence and donated all of his labor and expertise.
* The documentation of the HABS was submitted for the Peterson Award
and we received
Honorable Mention for the Peterson Award. Steve Padget Prof. Brought
the presentation to us
at an award breakfast during the festival.
* Our present goal we have worked on for three years...we found
an original Sheffield Flexible
Water Column, Fairbanks and Morse & Co. In a private collection
in Wappingers , NY.
We have raised and paid for the column and now have to raise the
funds to bring it to Beaumont. This will help us to complete more
railroad history and bring significance of the tower and the steam
locomotive era of Beaumont.
* Future goals are to work on re-capturing the railroad and ranching
era tourist attraction where the railroad right- away is to educate
future generations.
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