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Andersonville Water Tower Repair Fund Nets $15K from Midsommarfest

By Adeshina Emmanuel | June 26, 2014 8:38am | Updated on June 26, 2014 8:39am
 The water tower tank sits in a parking lot near the Swedish American Museum.
The water tower tank sits in a parking lot near the Swedish American Museum.
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DNAinfo/Adeshina Emmanuel

ANDERSONVILLE — Andersonville's damaged water tower has inched closer to revival thanks to the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce's donation of $15,000 toward returning the iconic structure to its roost above the Swedish American Museum.

The money comes via proceeds from the chamber's popular Midsommarfest street festival held earlier this month, according to the chamber.

The tower's water tank, painted blue and yellow in the likeness of the Swedish flag as a nod to Andersonville's Scandinavian roots, has sat since March in the Swedish American Museum's parking lot at West Foster and North Ashland avenues.

This year's brutal winter damaged the structure and led to its removal from atop the museum, 5211 N. Clark St.

  Andersonville's iconic water tower, painted to look like a Swedish flag,   came down this winter, to the dismay of residents who had come to regard the tower as a neighborhood icon.
Andersonville Water Tank Removal
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In March, the museum launched the Water Tower Fund to raise money for the tower's rebirth, which, according to museum Executive Director Karen Abercrombie, is estimated will cost at least $150,000 to repair the tank and return the local landmark to its former perch.

Abercrombie said that with the chamber donation, the fund now holds more than $52,000.

"That money is giving us a nice jump," she wrote in an email.

A Groupon campaign to raise money for the effort netted more than $7,000 earlier this year, according to Groupon.

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