Located at: 56 Ordzhonikidze Street, Tyumen
Date of creation: 1916
Historical background
In the early 20th century, Tyumen faced a pressing issue of clean drinking water scarcity. City authorities spent considerable time attempting to solve the problem by establishing a new water supply system. Pavel Ivanovich Nikolsky, the city head and a physician by training, actively facilitated its implementation. For this, he was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Tyumen in 1916. Water Supply Commission was formed.
The Moscow-based organization «Neptun» developed the project and prepared cost estimates. As part of the project, construction of a water tower began in 1914. However, construction was temporarily halted due to the war and only completed in 1916. As a result, the city’s water supply network expanded substantially.
At the beginning of the century, the tower was the tallest «civilian» structure in Tyumen, standing at 25 meters. Residents of nearby streets would come here for water, which was dispensed for one kopeck per bucket. Right there, horses were given to drink from a long trough – horses remained a common mode of transport in Tyumen until the 1950s.
The water tower served the city’s water supply system until 1957, as new water supply facilities had already appeared in the city. In 1966, the «Dzerzhinets» children’s club was opened in the tower, and continues to operate there today.
The water tower no longer fulfills its original function, but as a rare monument of industrial architecture of the past, as well as the tower’s unusual history, it deserves careful preservation.
Description
The tower is a brick, octagonal in plan, monumental, five-tiered structure in the «brick style» with elements of defensive architecture. The latter are most clearly manifested in the voluminous form, which resembles a medieval keep (donjon), and in the decor of the widened upper tier, decorated with a crenellated belt and stylized battlements. Arched window openings, enriching the plasticity of the walls, do not disrupt their monolithic character. The uppermost tier is pierced with vertical slit-like openings resembling arrow slits. A rectangular, narrow volume of the internal staircase is attached to the tower from the side of the western facade almost to its full height.
