NORFOLK, Neb. -- On Wednesday, Iseler Demolition brought down the Norfolk Water Tower. The tower was sitting off of 25th Street and West Prospect Ave and was built in 1964. 

“We started the project this morning at about six in the morning,” said Terry Miller, Iseler Demolition worker. “Normally it’s about an eight hour day. We should be done with everything around three o'clock this afternoon. And then we are getting the scrap hauled off to a local scrap yard.”

After 59 years, the tower mainly served as a high elevation point; where radios were able to attach antennas. It only actually held water for a small number of years, before Norfolk installed a new underground water system. 

“What we are doing is taking it down in smaller pieces; making it more manageable to take it to the scrap yard,” Miller said. “It’s better for handling and getting it off the site.”

The tower was originally supposed to come down on Apr. 13, but was ultimately pushed back until now. The long-standing Norfolk symbol will be reduced to rubble in the coming hours.

“It’s just the planning of getting everything lined up to get everything in a row, to get it here and get it done,” Miller said.

Many Norfolk natives stood by and watched the destruction of the tower. Some residents off-camera claimed that they have lived here since the tower was first built.

The Norfolk City Council was met with a decision earlier in the year to repaint it. The total cost was estimated around $300,000. The Council decided to not spend the money on it, and just have it taken down. 

The remaining pieces will be hauled to a scrap yard leaving nothing behind, but a memory.