Our Markham Water Tower

When we moved to Markham almost four years ago, the first landmark that stood out to me was the Markham water tower.  While driving home on the 401, the 407, or even on Markham Road, this landmark was visible and guided me and my family towards our new home. 

Needless to say, I was very sad the day I learned the Markham water tower was going to be taken down.  To me, the water tower represented Markham.  Why would such a defining landmark be removed?

So I did my research. 

The Markham water tower was built in 1971 to supply water to the Town of Markham.  The tower could hold up to 2,818 cubic meters of water.  At that time, the population of Markham was about 56,000 people, so a water tower of that size was pretty much what was needed. 

As Markham grew, so did our need for water.  Markham continued to build new developments and the population exploded, so our landmark was no longer enough to sustain our growing Town. 

In 2005, a new underground water reservoir was built at McCowan Road and Stouffville Road, with the capacity to hold up to 40,000 cubic meters of water.  That is roughly fourteen times that of the Markham water tower.  With our rapidly growing town, Markham needed to make sure we had enough water reserve for the existing town as well as sustaining future expansion.  Our water tower was drained in 2009, and the new underground reservoir was officially in use.   

So now, at the very least, I understand the reasoning behind the decommissioning.

To watch the decommissioning was indeed sad, though pretty amazing at the same time.  On November 15, 2011, over one hundred school children, school staff and apprehensive neighbours watched the workers remove the top of the water tower with a giant crane and place it beside our neighbourhood playground. 

(C) Photo courtesy of Jennifer Dreher

Day by day, we continued to watch the demise of our beloved landmark.  It took a mere four days to remove all the pieces until there was nothing left but a concrete base, which was then dug out of the ground.  The Markham water tower was now completely gone.

York Region must have understood what the Markham water tower meant to all of us.  I soon learned from Bill Patterson, Project Engineer of York Region Environmental Services, that the ground where the water tower once stood is being developed as an extension of Reesor Park, including an Xeriscape Garden, chess table and a monument to the Markham water tower. 

Though the new Xeriscape garden won’t be able to guide us on our journey home, my daughters and I can at least enjoy the new fittingly water-conserving garden and remember our beloved landmark.

For a more detailed overview of the decommissioning, please see Reesor Park student Thomas F's insightful blog: Thomas' Blog