Standing near the corner of Howard Avenue and Idaho Street, Alex Bevil looked up at the looming century-old neighborhood landmark and described what he was seeing with the love of an historian and the precision of a structural engineer. When built in 1924, it was, he said, “the tallest ellipsoidal bottom elevated steel plate water tank in the world.”
Officially known as the University Heights Elevated Water Tank, the name dates to when the borders of that community extended into what is today parts of North Park. While holding 1.2 million gallons of water high up in the air, the tank allowed gravity to create the water pressure needed for thousands of faucets from East San Diego to Hillcrest, University Heights, Mission Hills, and Uptown. Its unique design and massive dimensions provided a reliable water source through San Diego’s growing years.
A while back, Alex, a retired California State Parks Historian, was asked to write a proposal that the tower and the seven-acre water infrastructure area around it be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Thus began his deep research dive into its hydraulics, but along the way he discovered something else. A lot of people in North Park see the tower as a symbol of their community. Over the years, residents dressed up like the tower to march in in the Toyland Parade. They sported tattoos. “One person,” he said, “their leg features the water tower.” Visible for miles, it became an easy landmark for locals, by which directions were given and distances measured. Travelers returning to San Diego by air could spot it immediately. It was like a welcome home.
But today the tank is empty and has been since the 1990s. It became obsolete, and nobody wanted to imagine more than a million gallons of water sloshing around in an earthquake. So why not tear it down? “Because the locals would have been up in arms,” Alex says. “They did an informal survey asking people ‘what does the tower mean to you?’” The survey revealed a surprising level of affection. “One person said, ‘basically it gives me a kind of steam punk vibe and reminds me of the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.’”
Alex adopted that term and uses it now to describe the tower. Over his months of study and research he has grown fond of the Tin Man, as well as the nearby community center and a baseball field where a young Ted Williams learned the art of hitting.
In 2013, his work paid off. The big tank on Howard Avenue and the area around it were added to the National Register. Two years later it was designated a local Civil Engineering Landmark, and an ongoing symbol of North Park. Next time you are in the neighborhood, look up. You can’t miss it.
