The Quitman water tower near Bud Moody Stadium will have a new look when it is repainted, resolving a long-held contention about the word “Quit” facing the football stadium.

The Quitman City Council approved a bid Thursday for $322,600 to repaint the interior and exterior of the tower as well as a repainting of the interior of one of the ground storage tanks on Stephen St. due to paint failure.

When the exterior of the tower is redone, the word “Quitman” will be moved to the opposite side of the tower, and the Quitman Bulldog logo will be facing the stadium, so the first four letters of the city name won’t be visible from the stadium.

Both projects are being done by BZR Coatings of Searcy, Ark.

The ground storage tank interior is having to be redone. It was repainted in 2019, but the paint failed.

John Ringler with JCR Engineers in Longview explained that the paint was either a bad batch or was misapplied.

The company that did the work is no longer in business.

An adjacent tank was repainted at the same time and has not experienced issues.

Ringler said the water is still safe, but the paint has sloughed off the surface and fallen to the bottom of the tank.

Both projects are being funded by the remaining money from the city’s share of federal COVID-19 relief dollars.

An additional project to add LED lighting to the tower was not accepted at $249,000.