Petition signers hope to keep Blackfoot water towers standing
It has started quite the buzz in Blackfoot — the city is set to take down the two old water towers that have been a staple in the city for many years. But efforts to save the towers are gaining momentum fast, as a petition is getting hundreds of people signing it.
The city says it is too expensive to maintain the towers, and it will save the city money by getting rid of them, but that decision hasn’t sat well with residents. Chase VanOrden started a online petition to try to save them.
“There’s a lot of other things we can do rather than demolish our towers, and so I just wanted to get the word out and get people excited to know that we have a voice and we can do something about it. I kind of got offended by the fact that we’re tearing down more and more of our city. We’re seeing more of it go, we’re trying to rebuild and come back, but we’re loosing it,” VanOrden said.
More than 700 people have signed the change.org petition since it went up on Saturday. The site suggests these towers are landmarks for the city of Blackfoot, and should be preserved. VanOrden has seen positive feedback — reading several people’s stories, saying the towers are a sense of home.
“There was one person who posted a comment on the petition; they had left for the military and coming home when they saw that water tower, that was the first time they felt safe. In all those months, they finally were home, they were safe, everything was going to be OK,” VanOrden said.
VanOrden hopes for the best and says the petition’s main purpose is to encourage people to let their voices be heard at the City Council meeting on Aug. 15.
“I’m hoping it gets the word out — it gets people to show up to this city council meeting to voice our opinions to help come up with solutions to save the water towers, to save our history of Blackfoot — and help bring the voice to the council, to the mayor, to the city,” VanOrden said.
The towers have been out of commission for almost three decades, but the mayor is willing to have a public discussion about the towers at the next City Council meeting on Aug. 15 at 7 p.m.
The city is accepting bids to remove the towers, it hopes to have them taken down sometime this fall.
To view the petition, click here.
