August 2025: Restoration work to repair concrete issues and ensure structural stability of the tower and ornamental statues attached to the tower will begin the week of August 4th, 2025. Work is expected to last approximately 3 months. This project will follow the City’s construction noise ordinance which allows work M-F from 7 AM to 6 PM. Project updates can be found on the city’s project webpage here.
Click here to read the letter sent to residents on July 25, 2025
May 2022: A new historical sign was installed at the Washburn Water Tower to tell its history to all who visit, thanks to a generous legacy grant from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, local historian Tom Balcom, designer Dirk Nicholson, and dedicated Tangletown volunteers.
June 2018: The iconic and historic Washburn Water Tower received some much needed landscaping. The Tangletown Neighborhood Association, in partnership with Minneapolis Water Works, installed a variety of plants at the base of the tower.
Volunteer at the Water Tower!
Garden maintenance volunteer shifts are on hold due to safety concerns from falling concrete. Repair work is beginning in August 2025 and should be completed in fall 2025. Tangletown Neighborhood Association hope to be able to get back in the garden at the base of the tower in Spring 2026.
Washburn Water Tower Landscape Project Overview:
Although no longer used for drinking water, the tower is an important monument in our neighborhood. While the fence installed around the base of the tower reduced the number of graffiti incidents, it created a challenge with respect to landscape maintenance. Minneapolis Water Works, who owns and maintains the tower and its grounds, commissioned a low-maintenance landscape design plan from Tangletown Gardens. The conceptual design can be viewed Washburn-Tangletown-Planting Pallette. Minneapolis Water Works has cleared the area and plans to purchase the plant materials. The Tangletown Neighborhood Association, with neighborhood support, has agreed to provide volunteers for the initial planting. Additionally, the neighborhood will maintain the gardens by watering and weeding for the first two-three years while the plants are established.
Annika Bankston, Superintendent -Water Plant Operations & Maintenance attended the Tangletown Neighborhood Association board meeting on January 15th, 2018 to tell us more about the plans. The board approved a partnership with Minneapolis Water Works on February 19th, 2018. Please contact info@tangletown.org with any questions.
Washburn Water Historical Sign Project Overview:
In May 2022, Tangletown’s Building, Land Use, and Housing Committee completed a multi-year project to research, create, and install a historical sign at the Washburn Water Tower. Thanks to a generous legacy grant from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, local historian Tom Balcom, designer Dirk Nicholson, and dedicated Tangletown volunteers, this sign now sits near the base of the water tower and tells its history to all who visit the site.
