Calumet City, Illinois - The Smiley Towers

The Smiley Towers

A notable landmark and point of pride among Cal City residents is their two large water towers painted like the popular "Have a Nice Day" smiley faces: The Smiley Towers (external link) The following history of the Smiley Towers was found in the 1995 Calumet City Community Guide:

"The Story Behind the Smile"

Some huge smiles have been shedding a positive light on Calumet City since 1973.

The lemon-yellow Smiley Face water towers — one at River Oaks Center and the other at Paxton Avenue and Dolton Ave — were an idea suggested by Kim Fornero. Then a child, she could see one of the towers from her home and thought it would “look cute with a smiley face on it,” recalled Dennis Bonic, director of the Calumet City Water Department.

The 1970s were the era of the smiley face. These happy faces appeared on everything from buttons to lunch boxes.

Fornero appealed to then Mayor Robert Stefaniak, and he and the city council agreed to have the towers painted. The move made national headlines.

“There was a big to-do about it when they went up on 1973,” Bonic said. “It went national. It was on network TV before I even came to the Water Department.”

It was one of the first times anybody thought to use a water tower as a municipal billboard, he said. Other cities soon followed Calumet City's example and began putting symbols, slogans and insignias on their water towers.

The Smiley Face towers were heralded as a “progressive community project and a daily reminder to smile,” Bonic said.

The River Oaks tower, known as "Mr. Smiley Face”, sports a bow tie on its “neck”. The other tie-less tower is affectionately known as either “Mrs." or "Miss” Smiley Face”.

"I think everyone likes to see a smiley face and think about the city in a positive light,” he said "It's just a reminder to look on the bright side of things."