Closed for decades, Pittsburgh's 102-foot lookout is being restored for $3m

A 102-foot water tank in Pittsburgh that once also served as an observation post is set to welcome visitors again after being closed for decades, following a major restoration project. According to reports by WESA and TribLive, the North Park Observation Tower, built in 1937, is undergoing a multi-million-pound restoration led by the Allegheny County Parks Foundation and local county officials. The project has a budget of about $3.2 million and will repair the tower, improve safety railings, and reopen its 154-step spiral staircase to the public.High-altitude architecture from the New Deal eraThe tower was built during the Great Depression with funding help from the Works Progress Administration, a major New Deal agency created to provide jobs through public works projects. It was mainly built as a 300,000-gallon water storage standpipe. At the same time, it served as a high lookout point for visitors to the county park.