Tourists drawn to giant ketchup bottle now on sale in Illinois for $500,000, with warehouse

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. – For tourist Bruce Pasarow of Buena Park, California, leaving Illinois before seeing what’s billed as the “World’s Largest Bottle of Catsup” was not an option.

The Collinsville water tower is a depiction of Brooks Old Original Rich and Tangy Catsup, which was once produced in the buildings beneath the tower.

Now, the sign is for sale. Owner Larry Eckert is asking $500,000 for the 65-year-old, 170-foot (52-meter)-tall landmark and adjacent warehouse.

The 100,000-gallon (380,000-litre) tower never held ketchup. It hasn’t been used since Brooks moved out in the 1960s.

Judy Demoisy helped save the bottle when it was in danger of being torn down in 1993. She says preservationists believe using it in a ketchup museum would be great.

“It’s a global condiment,” she says.