North Iowa businessman wants to turn tower into home

by Marianne Morf

Could Clear Lake’s soon-to-be abandoned water tower become a home?
 That’s what Stick Stecker is proposing. The North Iowa businessman is pursuing a plan to purchase the water tower near the Four Winds addition on Highway 18 West and turn it into a multi-story home with a 360-degree view.
 “I think it’s the greatest idea in the world,” said Stecker, who has gone to the extent of having an architect draw up 

preliminary plans for the 106-foot tall and 40-foot wide water tank. “It will cost the city money to tear it down, so why not make a deal with me and put the property on the tax rolls?”
 When Stecker says the home would have a million dollar view, he’s not kidding.
 He expects to invest upwards of $750,000 to transform the water tower into a personal, part-time residence.
“I’ve built a lot of buildings in my life. I build them for myself and have leased some back to different companies for the past 15 years. I love a challenge and the unusual. This is both.”
Among Stecker’s buildings is a four-bedroom “tree house” nestled in the trees in rural North Iowa. A water tower home would even trump the view that amazing structure provides.
“You can see Pilot Knob from up there,” he said, referring to the State Park just outside Forest City, west of Clear Lake. The tower at the park, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, is the second highest point in Iowa.
Stecker, who owns and operates Stecker Well Drilling, said he and his crews would do the work to transform the water tower into a home. And although the exterior would remain a solid silver color, he envisions having fun on the inside. He estimates there will be three floors of living space, decorated using a submarine theme. An elevator would be installed at the center of the tower’s base to transport Stecker and his guests to the top. A deck would surround the tower.
“I want this so unusual people say, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me!’” he laughs.
Residents of the Four Winds area, located just west of the water tower, seem less enthused about Stecker’s proposal. A handful of residents have spoken against the idea at City Council meetings.
Stecker calls concerns about the possibility of spying on the residences down below, or creating a public nuisance, pure nonsense.
“Nothing is being changed here-- instead of water, it’s the inside of a house. Anyone driving by would see nothing different,” he said.
Structurally, using the water tower as a home is far less demanding than holding 2.2 million pounds of water and he is willing to test, and rid, the structure of any contaminants, he added.
Transformation of the water tower into a private residence would require a change of zoning, from public to single family, and approval by the City’s Board of Adjustment, as well as a Council vote.