Proposed Water Tank on Legacy Trail to Include Restrooms, Tees, Bike Racks

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 17, 2015) — The city of Lexington plans to spend $1.75 million to build restrooms and add trees and other amenities around a 70-foot-tall water storage tank to be built on the popular Legacy Trail on the Coldstream Research Campus by the end of December 2016.

The Fayette Urban-County Council recently approved the revamped plans for the new rest area. The tank — to be five stories tall and 200 feet in diameter — must be operational by the end of 2016.

As part of a $590 million overhaul of the city’s sanitary-sewer and storm-sewer systems, the city must install a “wet weather” storage tank near the Cane Run pump station. That pump station is at the back of the Coldstream Research Campus, off Newtown Pike on the Legacy Trail. The tanks are used to store water during heavy rain, helping to decrease the number of storm water overflows.

Charlie Martin, the city’s director of water quality, appeared before the council in September with a preliminary design. The designs unveiled Tuesday were altered slightly but contain the same design elements — a rest room, shade trees, bike racks, a water fountain and other amenities. The Legacy Trail currently has little shade and no restrooms.

Martin has met with stakeholders — including tenants of the Coldstream Research Campus, the Blue Grass Community Foundation, the Lexington Art League and others — for nearly a year to discuss ideas to make the are around the tank a rest area and not an eyesore.