Water Tower Plaza slated to open Saturday

At last.

Nine and a half years after the Gilbert Town Council began talking about turning a water tower that's been a downtown landmark since 1927 from a liability into an asset, the fence around its base will come down Saturday and Water Tower Plaza will open to the public.

"It's certainly been a lengthy little process, hasn't it?" said Town Councilman Don Skousen about the road to building the $3 million park, which covers a seventh of an acre at the base of the 123-foot tower.

It started out with the council announcing its intention to paint the weathered gray water tower, which supplied water to firetrucks from 1927 through 1985, back in April 1999. It wasn't completed until 2007.

A black "GILBERT" sign was painted across the north and south sides of the tower's round tank last month.

Construction on the park, which surrounds the tower's base and a tiny adobe building that was the town's first jail, began nearly two years ago and added a small amphitheater, sidewalks crisscrossed with seams mirroring the structure of the tower, and a giant white crane dumping water onto the now somewhat infamous 19,000-pound granite ball, which will float on a granite pedestal so park patrons can push and spin it.

A few residents have cried foul over the cost of that feature, imported from Germany, but Skousen insists it will be worth it.

"People will be going there for the next 50 years; watching kids push that ball around on top of the water is going to be all the talk," he said.

Joe Johnston has watched the refurbishment process from the beginning, as he opened Joe's Real BBQ downtown in 1998. He opened his second downtown restaurant in the historic Liberty Market three weeks ago, sandwiched between the water tower and Gilbert Road.

He said the town's growth over the last decade got in the way of getting the water tower refurbished sooner. "It's tough, because on one hand it is an icon for the town, and on the other hand most people in Gilbert live far away from downtown Gilbert," he said. "When the whole town was downtown it was a different story."

Johnston said his and other downtown eateries will offer free samples at Saturday's opening celebration, which will also feature music, speeches by Mayor Steve Berman and former Mayor Dale Hallock, and a ceremonial lighting of the top of the tower.

Hale Centre Theatre owner Dave Deitlein is particularly eager to see the park completed. He chose to build the theater a block west of Gilbert Road so the lobby could face the water tower, even though there weren't any solid plans for the park and an adjacent trailer court eventually bought by the town was still there.

"Building here was definitely a risk," he said.

He hopes that the new park will attract a lot of mothers with children who will discover the Hale's frequent children's theater productions, which he plans to expand.

As it stands now, he still wonders about his decision to build off the main road. "I think about it - a lot - but hopefully when this opens up, more people will know we're here."

IF YOU GO

What: Water Tower Plaza grand opening

When: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: 45 W. Page Ave., Gilbert (southeast corner of Page Avenue and Ash Street)

Cost: Free