‘We’ll be good for another 100 years.’ Canton begins Cromer Reservoir demo, replacement

• Demolition of the underground Cromer Reservoir began this month.
• The city will replace the reservoir with a smaller water storage tank to update the aging infrastructure and improve water quality.
• The $16 million project will be paid for with a 25-year Ohio EPA Water Supply Revolving Loan Account.

CANTON − A city project to demolish the roughly 100-year-old Cromer Reservoir has started.

The underground reservoir, located in the 3200 block of Cromer Avenue NW, just west of the Giant Eagle plaza, stores about 15 million gallons of drinking water. The city will replace it with a smaller water storage tank to update the aging infrastructure and improve water quality.

The reservoir was drained earlier this month, kicking off the $16 million demolition and replacement project.

“It’s a major project for the city of Canton and especially our water department,” Mayor William V. Sherer II said. “It’s been a long time coming.”

Canton Water Assistant Superintendent Brent Burrier said the demolition, which involves filling in the reservoir, will continue throughout the winter and will be complete around the end of March. The new water tank, which will sit partially above ground, should be built by December 2026.

“We’ve been designing this for three years now,” he said. “It’s very exciting to see it taking place.”

The city considered renovating and updating the Cromer Reservoir, but the demolition and replacement was the better option, Burrier said.

“There was just too many unknowns with renovation,” he said. “The cost analysis was about the same so we thought, ‘Let’s just demo it and build new.’ We’ll be good for another 100 years.”

The new replacement tank will hold 7.5 million gallons of water. The smaller capacity should improve water quality.

“We’ll be able to use more of that 7.5 million,” Burrier said. “We’ll have fresher water, less stagnant water sitting up here.”

The new tank also should improve water pressure, he said.

It’s going to be built on the northeast corner of the property to leave room for future expansion in the case of future population growth or increased water demand from businesses moving into the area.

The Cromer Reservoir serves about 60% of the city’s water customers. They should not notice any impact to water services while it is offline, Burrier said.

Canton is paying for the project with a 25-year Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Water Supply Revolving Loan Account, which offers lower interest rates for public water projects.

The city was in line to receive a $1.1 million federal earmark, but the project was removed from the final congressional spending bill passed in March.

Reach Grace at 330-580-8364 or gspringer@gannett.com. Follow her on X @GraceSpringer16.