Football-Shaped Water Tower Coming to UA

A white football-shaped water tower is planned to be built on the University of Alabama Campus. The tower will feature a red script A and stand at 450 feet.

According to Mark Hughes Cobb of The Tuscaloosa News, at Thursday's Zoom-connected UA Systems board of trustees meeting, six projects from the physical properties committee passed unanimously, including approval of a design for the prominent spheroid water tower on the north side of campus. The board also made an agreement with TurnerBatson Architects of Birmingham to fix part of the Moody Music Building. The building was struck by lighting during severe weather in April 2020.

Part of the water tower will be paid by the City of Tuscaloosa with an estimated $6.6 million dollars. UA will give $650,000 from plant reserves. Matt Fajack, UA vice president for financial affairs said, "This will upgrade water distribution and pressure throughout the city, but will primarily benefit campus."

There are also plans for a expansion of the Delta Gamma sorority house, the $437,000 demolition of Hayden-Harris Hall, architectural plans for Reese Phifer radio, and adding new satellite dishes. The Alabama Transportation Center will be created and renovated from what is called 1 North on the UA Campus. This will be part of the Alabama Transportation Institute, which will have linkages to Mercedes-Benz and their vehicles.

There are also plans for UA athletic venues to have new cameras installed around $2.3 million and for the Capstone Health Services Foundation to built a healthcare facility in Livingston.

The University of Alabama had suspended classes on campus earlier this year because of COVID-19, but is expected to resume classes for the upcoming fall semester. Classes are being currently held online for the Summer 2020 semester.