They came in with big flatbed trailers. Each trailer held one giant curved steel section. This is the Kenilworth Water Tower. Its construction began in 1940. Eugene Coppola a 97-year-old man witnessed it. He remembers huge cranes lifting the steel sections into place. Workers riveted and welded them together. The Kenilworth Water Tower stands tall. It sits on a hill 166 feet above sea level. The tower itself adds another 105 feet.
The Kenilworth Water Tower wasn’t always light blue. It was originally painted black. The color changed in the 1960s. The change helped the tower blend in with the sky. The name Kenilworth sits proudly at its crown. This impressive structure replaced Upsala College’s main building. The college stood here from 1899 to 1924. The water company now owns 6.5 acres of the original 14-acre campus.
Imagine the scene in 1940. North 21st Street was unpaved. Trucks and workers traveled this road to reach the construction site. Later in the late 1940s an excavation project changed the landscape. A large hole appeared at the end of North 21st Street. New streets Upsala Court and Via Vitale were built in this depression. The earth moving created an amphitheater. Today this amphitheater is the location of Black Brook Park’s ball field. The Kenilworth Water Tower stands as a silent witness to these changes. It’s a testament to the evolution of this area. The Kenilworth Water Tower remains a landmark. It’s a symbol of the past and the present. It stands proudly against the sky a reminder of history and progress. The Kenilworth Water Tower continues to serve its purpose. It silently watches over the neighborhood.