Grand Forks, North Dakota - Smiley Face Water Tower

Grand Forks, North Dakota - Smiley Face Water Tower

The smiley face water tower is the friendly mascot of this town. Roadsideamerica.com Report...

Grand Forks, North Dakota - Mr. Smiley Water Tower

Mr. Smiley is standing up and overlooking the city, greeting people coming and going with two different faces. [diane, 03/30/2007]

Grand Forks, North Dakota - Mr. Smiley Water Tower

Mr. Smiley, a Smiley Face Water Tower, is the heart of Grand Forks, greeting visitors to our town every day. At risk for demolition, Mr. Smiley still bravely stands every day doing his job, while a large group of us do everything we can to stop this from happening. [Kelsey Jacobson, 12/03/2006]

[RA: December 2006: In November the Grand Forks City Council considered the $50,000 demolition cost vs. the $190,000 sandblasting of lead-based toxics and repainting estimate. You can guess which won.]

Grand Forks, North Dakota - Smiley Face Water Tower

My grand father designed the paint scheme, and originally painted this smiley face water tower. On one side of the tower the smiley face is winking. When my grandfather, Oscar Osmundson, went to the city to get paid for his work they were hesitant about paying him. A few people on the city council thought that it wasn't finished yet -- that he only painted half of one of the eyes on that side of the tower.

My grandfather laughed and told them the tower was winking, and they decided to vote on keeping it. The wink won, and that's how it sits today. Thousands of people drive by the water tower every year, and they all have my grandfather to thank for the smile that the wink puts on their face. [Chad Osmundson, 01/01/2006]