1430 Monroe Ave. NW
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Architectural Style: Romanesque
Chronology:
1910 - The building was designed by George Warren Fuller, from Herring & Fuller of New York City. The original architecture was designed as much for form as it was for function.
1912 - Original water plant is built at a cost of $395,000. At its inception, the new city water system served four square miles with treated Grand River water.
1924 - A major update and new addition is built at a cost of $655,000.
1945 - Grand Rapids is the first city to add fluoride to drinking water from a public water filtration system.
1966 - The water plant provided filtered Lake Michigan Water to 47 square miles.
1992 - The water plant ceases operation.
Other Historical Facts:
"An asset from its earliest days, this architectural gem dramatically reduced typhoid fever and other waterborne diseases in Grand Rapids with its filtration and chlorination facilities. It was heralded in an early news article as Grand Rapids’ "foundation of universal health." Only the second water plant in the U.S. to rely on pretreatment, flocculation and sedimentation, the success of this water treatment plant helped lay the groundwork for modern water treatment plant design nationwide. Charles Hyde, a noted hydraulic expert from Chicago remarked after touring the plant "Grand Rapids has the most modern and completely equipped plant in the United States."
"The Monroe Water Filtration Plant was the first public facility in the U.S. to fluoridate water. The Centers for Disease Control cited fluoridation as one of the century's most significant public health advances. Typhoid fever deaths (a water-borne disease) in Grand Rapids dropped from an average of 25 per year to fewer than two per year shortly after the plant opened, confirming the dramatic effect of treated water on public health."
Web sites:
Landmark Hunter - Monroe Avenue Water Filtration Plant
Devries Companies - The History of Clear Water Place
Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association - Monroe Avenue Water Filtration Plant
Photos:
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