Throwback Thursday: The controversy at the top of the hill
In 1971 Norman Plumm of New Jersey wrote the following in a letter to the Daily News: “My wife and I drove through Bowling Green the other day and were shocked almost beyond belief by what we saw! Have the hippies taken over your city?” Mr. Plumm was referring to the water tower on Reservoir Hill which had been built in 1970. Its red, white, and blue design has become iconic for the city, but did you know it was quite the controversy back fifty-five years ago?
The Water-Sewer Sanitation Commission decided a raised tank would increase water pressure. Prefabricated parts were welded together in segments rising one hundred and thirty feet, and the million gallon tank cost one hundred and seventy thousand dollars. Bowling Green’s Mayor, R.D. Graham, suggested the patriotic design to the Commission. He credited the original idea to a Marine Recruiter in town.
To understand the controversy it caused, we have to remember the times. Mr. Plumm mentioned hippies, and countercultural elements of the day had infuriated many Americans with their treatment of the American Flag, both by burning it in protest or wearing it embroidered on clothes. The flag code doesn’t specifically forbid painting structures red, white and blue, but some people felt that the design violated its spirit.
Originally flags were taken down at night and during rain. The code also forbade its use in advertising. When the public learned of the planned design, letters flooded into the Daily News, both supporting and disparaging it. Those in favor said it proclaimed the town’s patriotism. Those opposed didn’t want birds roosting on the flag.
The Federal Aviation Administration also had a say in the colors, since no one had gotten prior approval for a structure too tall for the airport’s clear zone, but they eventually okayed it.
The flag design cost three thousand dollars more than just a solid color, but the contractor gave a fifty percent discount on that, so he could use it as advertising. It was completed in December 1970, and five hundred citizens attended a celebration for the lighting of the tank.
By 1971 the tower had inspired two positive songs, one by a resident and another by a songwriter just passing through. In 1973, the Daily News was asking readers if the red, white and blue tank should be the official symbol of Bowling Green. It hadn’t taken long for the town to embrace it, and it has indeed come to represent the city.
Here are the links to the songs about the Bowling Green water tower:
The Water Tank at Bowling Green
