HOLLYWOOD, Md. — Leonardtown commissioners voted to have a new water line constructed from Church Street to the new Tudor Hall water tower in preparation for having an eponymous aging water tower eventually demolished.
The new line will be 16 inches in diameter, said Town Administrator Laschelle McKay, and the construction will be overseen by town government using a water and sewer contractor.
She said the decision to move ahead with the project will allow the Church Street water tower, which services the majority of downtown Leonardtown but requires costly repairs due to aging, to be demolished.
The town also approved the contractor GHD, based in Bowie, formerly known as Stearns and Wheeler, to administer the bidding process for contractors to take down the old water tower.
“[A recently commissioned study] found it would be more economical to get rid of the Church Street water tower; it needs a lot of repairs and it’s our oldest water tower,” McKay told The County Times. “And it [the new water line] would also give us better fire suppression flow.”
McKay said that the tower demolition’s costs were unknown, but it would be a tenuous operation to bring it down because of its close proximity to homes and businesses.