Florence Y'all Water Tower
Encyclopedia
Water tower
A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
owned by the city of Florence, Kentucky
Florence, Kentucky
Florence is a city in Boone County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 29,951 at the 2010 census.-History:The Florence area was originally known as Crossroads, because of the convergence of several roads from Burlington and Union at Ridge Road...
that stands between the Florence Mall
Florence Mall
Florence Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Florence, Kentucky, USA. The mall, opened in 1976, comprises more than 100 stores, including four anchor stores as well as a food court...
and interstate highways 75 and 71. Millions of interstate motorists pass by the bold declaration every year, some who know the story behind the tower, and some who do not. Originally painted with the words "FLORENCE MALL" in giant letters, legal questions were raised, and a change was mandated. The inspired solution was simple - change the "M" to a "Y" with apostrophe.
Location
The Florence Y'all water tower in Florence is situated in Boone countyBoone County, Kentucky
Boone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1798. The population was 118,811 in the 2010 Census. Its county seat is Burlington. The county is named for frontiersman Daniel Boone...
in northern
Northern Kentucky
Northern Kentucky is the name often given to the northernmost counties in Kentucky...
Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, host to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport , sometimes called the Greater Cincinnati Airport is located in Hebron, unincorporated Boone County, Kentucky, United States and serves the Greater Cincinnati metropolitan area. Despite being located in Boone County, the airport operations are...
(CVG), with runway 18L/36R located almost exactly due north of the tower. The tower is beside Mall Circle Road northeast of the mall, next to interstate I-75 and I-71 which is joined to I-75 between Cincinnati and Walton
Walton, Kentucky
Walton is a city in Boone and Kenton Counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 3,635 in the 2010 Census.-Tourism:Nearby Florence offers thoroughbred racing at Turfway Park....
to the south. The red and white stripes on the tower converge toward the center on the top in a spoke pattern, easily visible from favorably situated persons in airplanes. (There were no spokes on the original version.)
Background
The land for the tower was donated to the city by the mall developers with the stipulation that the words "Florence Mall" be painted on it in view of interstate motorists.The tower was constructed in the early 1970s by the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1974, the Virginia Erection Co. was contracted to paint the words "Florence Mall" to advertise the innovative two-storey enclosed Mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
style shopping center, which was not officially opened until September 1976. A number of legal questions were raised, such as using city property to advertise a private business, and the obvious fact that the sign advertised something that did not yet exist. The city of Florence was informed by the Bureau of Highways in July 1974 that the signage was in violation of state law restricting how tall a sign promoting a business could be. Many solutions were suggested, including everything from the obvious repainting of the tower, to covering the structure with a large tarpaulin
Tarpaulin
A tarpaulin, colloquially tarp, is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with urethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. In some places such as Australia, and in military slang, a tarp may be known as a...
. No inexpensive options seemed available.
The solution
With time running out to comply with the law, civil staff met for a brainstormingBrainstorming
Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which a group tries to find a solution for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members...
session at the Stringtown Restaurant with the late C.M. "Hop" Ewing (d.2006) then Mayor of Florence, who "sketched different ideas on a napkin" until he devised the idea of removing the vertical lines at the sides of the M in MALL, adding a stem to make it a Y; becoming Y'ALL
Y'all
Y'all is a contraction of the words "you" and "all". It is used as a plural second-person pronoun. Commonly believed to have originated in the Southern United States, it is primarily associated with Southern American English, African-American Vernacular English, and some dialects of the Western...
. Ewing himself admitted at the time that it was a "corny solution, but cost effective". The city paid $472 to the W.T. Marx Company of nearby Cincinnati, Ohio to make the changes; whereas a complete repaint would have been nearly three times as much. With the completion of the modified paint job, the landmark was born. As a general rule, water towers are cleaned every five years and repainted every ten years, so the original modified Y-apostrophe is no longer evident.
Future results
Of course, all the free publicity surrounding the Florence Y'all tower advertised the Mall better than a passive sign alone. On the opening day shoppers, "jammed the Ky. 18 exit off I-75 in the autumn of 1976 to get their first glimpse of the new Florence Mall."The tower is an instantly recognizable landmark, even inspiring the naming of the annual Florence festival to the "Florence Y'all" fest around Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
. The number of items with the words "Florence Y'all" continue to grow, from simple lapel pins, bumper stickers, mousepads and postcards, to T-shirts and a large inflatable "Wally The Watertower" mascot for the Florence Freedom
Florence Freedom
The Florence Freedom are a professional baseball team based in the Northern Kentucky city of Florence, located near the city of Cincinnati. The Freedom are a member of the West Division of the Frontier League, an independent baseball league...
baseball team, and even Florence Y'all water tower Bobblehead dolls. Florence's World of Golf has a Florence Y'all replica in the miniature golf area. The new "Soft Play" area in Florence Mall features a replica of the tower.