Displaying the iconic Tigerhawk logo, the University of Iowa water tower next to Kinnick Stadium is going to be relocated to make way for a new adult inpatient tower on the UI Hospitals and Clinics main campus.

The UI’s 10-year facility plan consists of multiple projects to improve Iowa’s patient care. To make room for the adult inpatient building, a new water tower must be built elsewhere, which is expected to cost an estimated $10 million, funded by UI Health Care.

The current water tower is located east of Kinnick Stadium, facing the stands and visible to patients in the Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. The new tower will be constructed northwest of the football practice fields. Utility planning started in early January, but construction is not expected to finish until the end of 2025.

Carsyn Fedeler, a UI first-year student, works in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at UIHC. She said the kids can see the Tigerhawk logo from their rooms and be reminded of the Hawkeye spirit.

After campus-wide support and advocacy, the Tigerhawk logo was added to the water tower in 2018.

“At night, especially, the water tower is very beautiful. It lights up so you can see the Tigerhawk. And the kids can see it through their window, and it just reminds them that they’re in the Hawkeye City and that Iowa City is the best,” Fedeler said.

The water tower provides water for the entire campus using underground pipes that run from the west side to the east side of campus, according to the UI Director of Utility Operations Ben Fish.

Fish said the most important aspect of the project is to build the new tank safely and quickly and keep the drinking water flowing to UIHC. The current tower will be torn down once the new tower is built to ensure water will continuously be accessible to the campus, Fish said.

“The hospital is a very critical hospital for the whole state,” Fish said. “So we want to make sure that whatever we’re doing, we don’t jeopardize that.”

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Other than a new location, viewers can expect a visual change to the water tower. Fish said the water tower would hold more water and have a larger capacity of 55 feet in diameter.

As for the iconic Tigerhawk logo displayed at the water tower, Fish is unsure what the plans are for decorating the future water tower.

“Our goal right now is to get the new water tower built and in place and then let people figure out what might look good to be painted on it,” Fish said.