A landmark in Plano is about to be demolished.
Tuesday, the city announced that a water tower in the Legacy area will soon come down.
"It's not common to see this happen,” Plano Public Works Director Gerald Cosgrove said.
Next week, the water tank at Texas state Highway 121 and the Dallas North Tollway will be tipped over, as well.
"Basically, he's going to do it like you take down a tree,” Cosgrove said.
The tower came on the chopping block when a developer took over ownership earlier this year. It’s coming down to make room for a new development, Legacy West, which will include shops, restaurants, residential living, a high-rise hotel and the Liberty Mutual Insurance campus.
In April, Liberty Mutual Insurance announced plans to build in Plano. The company said it expects to have as many as 5,000 employees in its first tower that's set to open by the end of 2017.
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The 178-foot tower was built in 1985. It was taken out of service in 2010. Cosgrove said customers now get their water supply from newer tanks nearby.
"The problem with this tank is that now that the system has built out, for the most part, in this area, it hasn't been a very effective tank to meet our needs and in some cases it’s more of a liability than it is an asset,” he said.
Cosgrove said bolts at the bottom of the tower will be loosened then crews will use torches to cut a notch at the base.
The water tower is set to be tipped over at 9 a.m. Monday.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story listed the water tower as 900-feet tall. The city has since corrected the height to 178 feet.
