HAMBURG, N.Y. — Plans are still in the works to paint the water tower in Hamburg to make it look like a hamburger.
"We have a community share for our matching funds of about $60,000. We've raised about $10,000 prior to the pandemic. We just got started with our fundraising, and then we kind of got shut down," said Chris Hannotte, chair of the Hamburger Water Tower Project.
Chris Hannotte is leading the fundraising campaign to transform the Town of Hamburg's water tower into a hamburger.
"At Burger Fest several years ago, we had a design contest, and we wanted to let the community pick which design they thought was best, and so Dillon Cownie is the guy who created the image, and that is what is going to be painted up there. We did get the approval from the town board for that design," Hannotte said.
2 On Your Side asked about a timeline, but they just don't know yet with lots of fundraising to go. And with the cost of supplies and labor up since the fundraiser started pre-pandemic, we asked about that too.
"We have cut our costs in half because we've decided to do an overcoat system rather than a total replacement, so instead of sandblasting to the raw steel, and totally encapsulating it and scaffolding it, we're going to use a man lift, and we'll just spot sand the rusty parts of the water tower, and then just overcoat it," Hannotte said.
Burger Fest is Saturday, July 16. You can look for Hannotte there at a table fundraising for the group.