Florence Y'all Water Tower

The Florence Y'all Water Tower is a water tower owned by the city of Florence, Kentucky, United States. It stands between the Florence Mall and interstate highways 75 and 71,[1] where it is seen by millions of interstate motorists annually. The 1974 tower, originally painted with the words FLORENCE MALL in giant letters, became a regional landmark after the M was changed to Y' to address legal concerns.

The water tower, which can hold about 1 million US gallons (3,800 m3), stands in Boone County in northern Kentucky, due south of Runway 18L/36R of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) and between I-75/I-71 and Mall Circle Road, northeast of the mall.

History

In the early 1970s, the developers of the yet-to-be-built mall gave the land for the tower to the city, stipulating that the words "Florence Mall" be painted on it in view of interstate motorists.[2] The tower would thus advertise the mall, which would open in September 1976.

The tower was built by the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and painted in 1974 by the Virginia Erection Co. The giant advertisement immediately raised legal concerns. In July 1974, state Bureau of Highways officials told the city that the tower's sign was taller than allowed by state law.

Among the discussed possibilities were repainting the tower or covering the words with a large tarpaulin. With time running out to comply with the law, civil staff met for a brainstorming session at the Stringtown Restaurant with the late C.M. "Hop" Ewing (d.2006), then Mayor of Florence, who "sketched different ideas on a napkin".[3] Ewing ultimately devised the idea of removing the vertical lines at the sides of the M in MALL, adding a stem to make it a Y and adding an apostrophe; resulting in "Y'ALL".[4] Ewing called it a "corny solution, but cost-effective", because the minor alteration would cost one-third of a full repainting. The city paid $472 to the W.T. Marx Company[5] of Cincinnati, Ohio, to make the changes.

The publicity surrounding the Florence Y'all tower advertised the mall better than a passive sign alone. On the mall's opening day in late 1976, mall-goers created a traffic jam at the Kentucky Route 18 exit from I-75.[2]

Further developments

As a general rule, water towers are cleaned about every five years and repainted about every ten years,[1][6] Due to the subsequent repaintings, it is no longer evident that the lettering was originally a patchwork modification. During one repainting, the red and white stripes on the tower were extended onto the top, where they converge in a spoke pattern easily visible from aircraft.

The tower's rewritten words have become a local motto of sorts. A town festival held around Labor Day was renamed the "Florence Y'all" fest. The words can be found on lapel pins, bumper stickers, mousepads and postcards, and T-shirts. The local Florence Freedom baseball team has a large inflatable "Wally The Watertower" mascot[7] and has given away Florence Y'all water tower bobblehead dolls.[8] When the team won the rights to host the Frontier League's annual all-star game, they marketed it as the "Y'All-Star Game", with the water tower in the official logo for the contest. [9] Florence's World of Golf has a Florence Y'all replica in the miniature golf area.[10] The "Soft Play" area in Florence Mall features a replica of the tower.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 "Water towers loom large". Enquirer.com. April 7, 2001. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
  2. 1 2 Deborah Kohl Kremer (5 March 2011). "The year chain retail stores came to NKY". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  3. ↑ "Florence Y'All Water Tower". Archived from the original on 2009-03-24. Retrieved 2011-03-20. comment by Ewing's grand-daughter Lindsey Whalen October 8, 2008
  4. ↑ Marti Attoun (January 2006). "Whatta Water Tower!". Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "National Flag". Retrieved 2011-03-20. An Amelia, Ohio, company that also does business as WT Marx Company, Inc.
  6. ↑ NKy Life, section C of NKy edition of Cincinnati Enquirer, page C1, picture caption, Friday, June 3, 2011
  7. ↑ "Florence Freedom - Greater Cincinnati's Minor League Baseball Team". florencefreedom.com. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  8. ↑ Enquirer Media. "ISSUU - florence-recorder-123010 by Enquirer Media". Issuu. Archived from the original on 14 January 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "Freedom to Host 2016 Frontier League "Y'all-Star Game"". Florence Freedom. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "Kentucky - Cincinnati.com - cincinnati.com". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "Soft Play Area at Florence Mall". florencemall.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

Coordinates: 38°59′51.6″N 84°38′51.8″W / 38.997667°N 84.647722°W / 38.997667; -84.647722

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