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Built in 1897, the water tower was conceived as a practical yet elegant solution to a serious problem; the college wells were drying up.

So when state legislature appropriated funds to construct a water system, Anson Marston, then a civil engineering professor, planned to build a structure that would, in his words, "serve as an object lesson, both to citizens of the state and to hundreds of young engineers."

Our newest structure, located next to the water tower, is one of stark contrast to the historical tower. The Engineering Teaching and Research Complex represents the largest capital project ever undertaken at Iowa State.