By Jennifer Stultz
Tri-County Tribune Editor
jstultz@cherryroad.com
According to prattrecords.com, the Hot Cold water towers on N. Main Street in Pratt have gained national attention since being painted in 1956. The smaller tower was built in 1901, the larger tower was added in 1909. Gardens were planted under the towers in 1995, but in recent months an effort to revitalize the neglected area has surfaced, and citizen Tammy Coleman has taken on the responsibility of making sure the project gets completed.
“Thirty years ago my mother, Reva McAnarney took care of these gardens, along with some others from her gardening group,” said Coleman. “After she died and most of the rest of the group passed as well, the place just wasn’t kept up and it became a place for rocks, stickers, trash, even broken glass.”
Coleman, who last year moved back home to Pratt after 43 years in Chicago, said she saw a need for leadership on the restoration project and was glad to help out.
“People come from all over the world to take pictures here, with these hot cold towers. It just makes sense to make a nice place where good memories can be made,” Coleman said. “This is more or less a labor of love for me. I’m not really a gardener, but I have family invested here and I am just excited about the possibilities.”
In 2023, the City of Pratt removed dead foliage and trash from the small garden area and leveled the area that lies beneath the Hot and Cold towers. Coleman said her brother, Dan McAnarney alerted her this past fall, that the plan was to just put down crushed rock and concrete under the towers so she stepped in and shared some ideas about possible alternative options.
“I would like to have some shrubs, a few trees, flowering plants, as well as a place where people can sit a spell, enjoy their lunch on a nice day,” she said. “We need to beautify this place because it is like a gateway into the city. This space matters.”
Coleman, who said she remembers playing in water as it was drained from the Hot Cold towers into the street, has done some fundraising to put in irrigation to the area now called Tower Gardens. A fund has been set up with the City of Pratt and the South Central Community Foundation to support the purchase of seeds and plants for the area. The Eleanor Kerr Foundation has already donated money and paid for flag poles and bases to be put in. Coleman is checking out options for benches or a bench/table combo that could be used by patrons under the towers.
“I do have a benefactor now who has said they will match dollar to dollar donated up to $10,000,” Coleman said. “That will really help. I am also hoping more donators come forward to help with this project.”
Coleman said she hopes to eventually raise enough money to have a special mural painted on the north side of the building that is situated on the south side of the Tower Gardens.
“I envision pretty things with wings going there,” she said.
On March 8, Coleman said she would be at the Hot and Cold Art Market in the Pratt Municipal Building, sharing more information about her plans for the Tower Gardens and accepting donations. She hopes others will join her in revitalizing an important part of Pratt history and making the area a pleasing place to stop and take photos.
Coleman said her end-goal would be to raise enough funds to create a special endowment that would provide for the care and maintenance of this community garden so that future generations might enjoy the beauty of nature there.
