By Maggie LaNoue , Contributing Writer
June 12, 2026
Behind the moment that drew a small crowd to East Michigan Avenue on May 28 is a story of years of planning, engineering, grant writing, and regional cooperation. Albion’s new 1-million-gallon water tower is more than a landmark. It is the foundation of what city and economic development leaders hope will become one of the region’s most significant industrial opportunities.
The tower is the centerpiece of a $27 million Water System Improvements project. The project includes a new wastewater treatment plant, water main replacements throughout the city, lead service line work, and upgrades to the water treatment system. The tower contract alone came to $4,205,504.71, with the tower built and lifted by Caldwell Tanks of Louisville, Kentucky.
Funding for the broader project was assembled from seven separate sources. These include a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund loan of $4,245,794, an ARPA grant of $7,131,512, a Drinking Water Infrastructure grant of $1,956,267, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law lead service line loans and forgiveness totaling $755,206, a Michigan Transportation Fund bond of $2,991,602, and a Water Revenue Bond of $9,919,619.
Lance Wood, Senior Project Manager in the Water Infrastructure Financing Section of Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, was on site for the lift. His presence reflected the state’s significant investment in the project. EGLE’s financing division helped assemble the complex funding package that made the work possible.
The engineering was led by Mickey E. Bittner, P.E., who has been with Wightman for 30 years and helped to coordinate the project financing, and Brian Holleman, P.E., who has 22 years of experience in water infrastructure and oversaw construction engineering. Wightman is based in Allegan. Holleman said he had never personally witnessed a tank raising before. The company that performed the lift, Caldwell Tanks, does this work across the country.
The new tower stands 128 feet above its high-water level. The bowl is 74 feet in diameter and the shaft is 40 feet across. When full, it will hold approximately 7.5 million pounds of water. The foundation sits 16 feet underground. Both tower sites sit at roughly the same ground elevation, approximately 983 feet above sea level, meaning the new tower’s greater height will provide consistent water pressure across the city’s growing eastern service area. A concrete collar was poured the following day to permanently anchor the tank to its shaft.
The existing 500,000-gallon tower, centrally located near downtown and recently repainted, will remain in service. Together, the two towers will double the city’s water storage capacity. That matters for fire protection, for daily demand during peak hours, and most importantly for what comes next.
Debbie Kelly, President and CEO of the Albion Economic Development Corporation, was among the first to arrive on the morning of the raising. About six months into her role, she has guided this project through its most visible phase. She described the tower as both a necessity and a statement.
“It is a necessity to have sufficient water capacity for future industrial development,” Kelly said. The East Industrial Park surrounds the new tower site. She called the tower an anchor and a monument for the park, and added that as a marketing piece, it is perfect.
The East Albion Industrial Park is a 624-acre site located east of the city on Highway M-99/Michigan Avenue, half a mile from I-94 exit 124, according to the Albion Economic Development Corporation website. That interchange sits along one of the nation’s major freight corridors, connecting Detroit and Chicago and offering access to Canadian border crossings, multimodal rail connections, and just-in-time manufacturing routes serving the automotive industry. Heavy power infrastructure already runs through the corridor, serving neighboring industrial operations including Brembo, the international brake manufacturer with a major facility in nearby Homer. Water, power, highway access, and rail; the infrastructure pieces that industrial site selectors look for are quietly assembling themselves around Albion’s eastern edge. The new water tower is the most visible of them. It is not the only one.
Challenger Communications, an Albion-based manufacturer founded in 2011 that has worked on NASA satellite antenna projects, is among the established industries already operating near the new tower site. Gene Sorgi, one of the company’s founders, was among those who gathered to watch the lift. Community outreach meetings about the East Industrial Park are planned for later this year. Residents will have a chance to weigh in on what kinds of industries and development they hope to see on those acres.
The tower is expected to undergo disinfection and testing around August 26. A formal ribbon-cutting is planned for late August or early September when the tower goes fully operational.
For now, it stands, new and bright, on Albion’s eastern edge. The old tower remains on the western horizon, still working, still useful. Between them lies a city that has been quietly doing the hard work for years. Miles of water mains, sewer lines, and wastewater infrastructure have been replaced or upgraded, much of it invisible to the people it serves. New leadership has brought fresh energy to City Hall and to the EDC. Staff have taken on more, learned new tools, and pursued grants that once might have gone elsewhere. The water tower rising into that perfect May sky was the most visible sign yet that the work is well underway.
Part One of this series described the day of the historic lift and the community that gathered to watch it happen.
