Water Tower Controversy In Waukesha Rises To Shakespearean Heights

The Bard's Juliet wondered "what's in a name," and some centuries later, one Waukesha resident answers: An eyesore.

The Daily Reporter's Sean Ryan has the story of a Waukesha man who doesn't want to look out of his Tallgrass subdivision home's windows and see the name "Waukesha" emblazoned 93-feet up on the side of the city's new water tower.

What the homeowner prefers is a water tower without lettering, painted with a blue and grey pattern that will somehow, Presto! make the planned big edifice disappear into background skies - - bad news for migrating birds and those low-flying helicopters that other Waukesha County folks use for their daily commutes.
But Waukesha wants more water - - surely you've heard all about that - - and needs some place to store it: the new tower is going in, with or without lettering, by 2009.

And since we're discussing what's in a name - - is there really tallgrass under the snow in the photo accompanying Ryan's online piece.

Let's hope this isn't just another part of Waukesha like the recently renamed Country Springs resort, or the streets (Springhouse Dr., Mineral Springs Blvd., etc) in Pabst Farms that recall an environment long gone, when Waukesha was known as Spring City, or The Saratoga Of The West.