Discussions have been underway since December between members of the Farmville Town Council and Longwood University to place the school’s logo on the newly constructed water tower on Andrews Drive. The 127-foot tower is visible from Brock Commons on the Longwood University campus as well as from various points in the Farmville community.
The tank is 75-feet in diameter and will hold one million gallons of water. The new tank is designed to increase water pressure throughout the town and will also serve the Longwood community.
According to Gerald Spates, Farmville town manager, the water tank itself is now finished, but still needs electrical wires and pumps installed and paint applied. After painting, the Longwood University logo will be added. Spates stated, “It should be all finished sometime in April ... That’s what we’re shooting for. And then we’re talking about having some lights on it so it will stand out.”
Spates emphasized, “We thought it would be a good way to showcase Longwood since it’s such an important part of the town,” adding, “It [discussion of the Longwood logo] came up because it’s a really visible tank.”
In the Jan. 9, 2014 issue of The Farmville Herald, Editor Ken Woodley reported that town council members enthusiastically supported the idea of placing the logo on the water tank. Other council members, though, wanted to include the Hampden- Sydney College logo on the new water tank as well.
Earlier discussions included the possibility of the Hampden- Sydney Tigers emblem on either the new water tower or on an alternative site, such as the water tower south of Farmville on Route 15.
According to Spates, “We put banners up to welcome Longwood University and Hampden-Sydney College students, but Hampden- Sydney is not right here in town. It is part of our community, but I think we can incorporate Hampden-Sydney in something else ... I think this should be geared just for Longwood.”
Spates commented, “We’re hoping it’s not going to be any cost to Longwood.”
Hampden-Sydney administrative offices offered no comment.
An anonymous Hampden- Sydney student said, “We at Hampden-Sydney College have our own water tower that provides enough water pressure to supply the campus and surrounding community which has the Hampden-Sydney logo, but not Longwood’s logo ... The water supply of that [the new] tower would impact Longwood a lot more than Hampden-Sydney so I don’t have a problem with which logo is used. It’s just a water tower.”
Sabrina Brown, associate vice president of Marketing and Communications at Longwood, explained, “The logo used on the water tower will definitely be representative of Longwood’s colors and will adhere to graphic standards established for Longwood logos. President [W.] Taylor Reveley [IV] worked with the Town of Farmville to arrange the placement of a Longwood mark on the tower. The university is grateful to have such a prominent reminder of its presence in the community.”
