CHICAGO (AP) — A replica water tank has been placed atop Chicago’s Swedish American Museum, again marking a North Side neighborhood as a home to Nordic immigrants.
The roughly two-story steel and fiberglass replica was hoisted Tuesday onto the museum’s roof in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood.
The original wooden water tank was installed in 1927. It was part of the building’s original fire sprinkler system.
At the time, such structures were a standard part of the city’s skyscrapers, commercial buildings and large apartment buildings.
The Andersonville tank became a neighborhood landmark about 20 years ago when it was painted the colors of the Swedish flag. A rough 2014 winter and age warped the 20,000-gallon structure irreparably.
The museum raised about $200,000 to create a weather-resistant duplication of the original tank. It won’t hold water.
