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Got $200,000? Buy the 'World's Largest Bottle of Catsup'

The property next to the 170-foot-tall tower is also for sale for $300,000.

By Evan Bleier
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COLLINSVILLE, Ill., July 22 (UPI) -- If you can squeeze about $200,000 out of your bank account, then one of the most iconic towers in America could be yours.

It might not exactly be the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but the 170-foot-tall "World's Largest Bottle of Catsup" in Illinois is for sale.

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The 65-year-old landmark once served the city of Collinsville as a water tower and the warehouse next to it is also for sale for $300,000.

Brooks Old Original Rich and Tangy Catsup was produced in the buildings near the landmark, but it was never stored in the 100,000-gallon tower.

The tower is usually celebrated during the annual Catsup Bottle Festival, but it's unclear what will happen next year if the property is sold.

"Hopefully new owners will come in who are preservation-minded," Mike "Big Tomato" Gassmann of the World's Largest Catsup Bottle Fan Club told the Belleville News-Democrat. "We really hope someone with its best interest at heart comes along. ... We've been brainstorming ideas for redevelopment of that block for years: a welcome center, a museum, a cafe, a park. There are all kinds of great ideas on what that property could turn into."

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The bottle is on the National Register of Historic Places and the new owner of the property would likely be required to preserve it.

It's possible that the Catsup Bottle Fan Club will turn to Kickstarter in order to raise money to purchase the tower.

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