BY JOHN REED LEADER EDITOR
HAMLET — Pieces of Hamlet’s new 200,000 gallon water tower soared into the air Monday as construction crews assembled the most visible feature of major infrastructure projects designed to service the new Sysco (Baugh Midwest) regional food distribution warehouse.

The tower is part of a $4 million project adding new sewer and water lines and fire  hydrants along County Road 500 North. All the projects tie into treatments pants in Hamlet.
At last week’s meeting of the Starke County Commissioners, engineer Van Janovic of Territorial Engineering in Koontz Lake said most of the work has been done on the rest of the project.
Although the water tower work was to be completed Monday, a $3,000 motor on the crane failed to work, and a replacement was being overnighted. Crews were expected to finish the tower Tuesday.
After the tower is raised, the entire structure will be X-rayed to assure welds will hold. Then the tower will be painted inside and out, hopefully this fall, if the weather cooperates.
The first occupant in the Hamlet West Industrial Area will be the Baugh North Central Cooperative Redistribution Center (RDC), an affiliate of Sysco Corporation. The approximately 700,000 square foot operation is expected to cost more than $90 million, will create about 500 new jobs and will include freezer, refrigeration, and dry storage, office space, rail spurs and a truck maintenance facility. The RDC will service 23 Sysco broadline distribution facilities in 11 states.