MALVERN, Ark. — A tower housing small-town Malvern’s water is the talk of the town.
For years, the water tank known as the "Texas-McHenry" tower has been a town staple. But, the only reason it stands out is because of its plain, and what some call boring structure.
But that's soon changing, according to Malvern Mayor, Brenda Weldon.
“I hope it will instill some pride,” said Weldon of a water tower project in the works.
If you walk through the halls of Malvern schools, you’ll find rooms and offices flooded with leopard print.
With a mindset of "what opportunities could a small town offer,” once Malvern student, now employee, Jace Roberts had his sights set on bigger things.
"I graduated here in 2004,” said Roberts. “At the time, I thought I’d never be back here.”
It was the sea of orange and leopard print that reminded him what made his home town so great.
"You know we say once a leopard always a leopard,” he said.
The sense of pride brought him back, and he's one of just many natives eager to see that same pride flow into the streets of his community.
"We're very excited,” said Mayor Weldon. “We are rehabbing four of our water towers.”
The Texas McHenry tower sits just blocks from the high school, which is one of four towers getting quite the attention.
It's currently undergoing routine maintenance, but behind a massive tarp-covered water tank, something far greater will soon be revealed.
"We decided to put a head of our leopard, our local mascot and put “home of the leopards,” said Weldon.
“It’s been pretty non-descriptive, nothing going on with it,” said Roberts. "So, It's awesome. It's just a reminder of the impact that a school can have on everybody."
With just one glance, the new art will explain why the tower isn't just any tower to people who call Malvern home.
"Hopefully when they, visitors go by, they'll have pride knowing that this is our home town, this is our mascot and we are just excited to do that for the community,” said Weldon.
The newly painted water tower should be revealed in a month.