Council sets Sept. 17 hearing on $84,000 budget request to move Union Pacific water tower to Roundhouse

The Evanston City Council on Monday set a public hearing for Sept. 17 to consider a proposed $84,000 amendment to the city’s fiscal year 2024 budget to relocate a Union Pacific water tower from Wasatch, Utah, to the Evanston Roundhouse and Rail Yards.

City attorney Mark Harris told the council that the request comes from the Community Development and Facilities department and that the hearing is required under the city’s economic-development statute and must be publicly advertised. The proposed action would increase general-fund expenditures by $84,000 to cover the move and reassembly, the staff request said.

Supporters—including Tom Fen, who identified himself as president of “rink” (the Roundhouse nonprofit)—told the council the Historic Preservation Commission requested the relocation and that the nonprofit has been fundraising for the tower. Fen said prior master-plan work and preliminary foundation concepts exist and that past crane pricing covered moving and re-erecting the tank, but the estimates are dated: “We have gotten a cost from a crane company to come in and move it…this 84,000 is the number we’re getting for moving and putting in the foundation and re-erecting it,” Fen said.

Several council members said they support the idea in principle but pressed staff and proponents for hard numbers before the council would commit public money. One councilor said the project “needs to start getting things in paper” and another called for contractor bids and an engineer’s estimate for footings and site work. Council members also asked for documentation of how ownership would transfer from Union Pacific; staff said a bill of sale is what will be required but Union Pacific will not issue one until the railroad is certain the structure will be moved.

Public commenters and Roundhouse volunteers urged the council to help. A member of the Historic Preservation Commission said Union Pacific will give the city 180 days to remove the tank once transfer is requested, a condition that volunteers said makes timely funding and logistics critical. A resident who helped gather proposals said the $84,000 figure covers moving the tank to Evanston but is likely only a portion of total restoration costs once it arrives.

The council voted to set the public hearing for Sept. 17 at 5:30 p.m. The hearing will allow the city and the public to review advertised details, and council members said they expect contractor estimates, transfer paperwork and clearer cost breakdowns to be provided ahead of final action.