Phoebus Water Tank – Hampton VA

Description

Researcher Frank da Cruz writes that in 1936 the Federal Works Project Administration (PWA) financed the construction of this one-million gallon steel elevated tank. The current waterworks coordinator in the area reports that this project, as well as the 60th Street Elevated Tank project in Newport News, were “…financed by 25% to 45% federal grants, and 4% 25-year-serial-revenue-bonds accepted by the Public Works Administration.” Although this tank is currently in use, it is evidently slated for demolition in 2018.

The construction of this water tank in 1936 was part of a large scale waterworks expansion project that was carried out with the support of New Deal Programs. The Water Resources Coordinator explains that “[o]ur system was expanded considerably in the 1930s and 1940s through PWA- and FWA-funded projects. These included a significant number of water mains; a dam, intake, and pumping station on the Chickahominy River; employee housing, and two 6-MGD [million gallon per day] water treatment plants. Unfortunately, most of these facilities are underground, have been demolished and replaced, or have been significantly overhauled/​rehabilitated, so little photographic evidence exists of the original work.”