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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Publisher

CALERA – If you got tired of watching Tennessee score in their traditional checkered end zone during the Alabama-Tennessee game this year, there is bad news if you live in the city of Calera.

A new water-tower design that resembles the famed orange and white checkered end zone inside Neyland Stadium has made its way to Calera and so have many jokes surrounding it.

The city shared a post on Tuesday, Nov. 12, making light of the situation after they were “flooded” with calls related to the new water tower located on County Road 12 near Savannah Pointe.

“Yes, we know that bright, gaudy orange and white checkered pattern might scream Tennessee Volunteers end zone, but, rest assured, this is not some elaborate prank by city employees and it hasn’t been ‘Vol-untarily’ vandalized,” said the city.

The tower is actually a federally-mandated design by the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates civil aviation and commercial space transportation in the United States.

The new Tennessee-Volunteer like design is meant to be an eye-catching water tower because of its proximity to the Shelby County Airport in the city of Calera just off of Interstate 65.

“Safety first, fashion second,” the city continued. “While it may look like we’re making a bold statement in orange, we’re just following the rules, no team loyalty is implied.”

Oddly enough, County Road 12 is also known as Smokey Road. Smokey is also the name of the Tennessee mascot.

Social media reactions to the post have kept the fun going, as many are convinced whoever designed the “federally-mandated” water tower had to be a Volunteer fan.

“Wouldn’t Crimson and White have made it just as visible? Or lime green and white even? I’m convinced the person who decided on these ‘safety measures’ is a Vols fan,” said Meeta Stokley Nicholas in a comment on Facebook.

Tennessee fans have also jumped in on the action, sharing their excitement for the new design as they continue to celebrate a win over the Crimson Tide this year.

The city continued with the fun a day later when they shared another parody update about the tower.

“After the major backlash from our citizens about our FAA imposed orange and white water tower, the city has decided to request that all of the orange and white construction barrels on the Highway 31 repaving project be changed out with red and white and/or blue and orange barrels,” they said. “This way we are spreading the love across more of the SEC.”

They added to please not play around in construction zones because neither Auburn or Alabama has done well with “road games” this year, while continuing the joke with citizens throwing flags about “unnecessary roughness” of roads during the paving project.

While the posts have been fun to monitor and fans are continuing to throw jabs, it does look like Calera residents will have to get used to the Volunteer orange and white having a stronghold on the area for the foreseeable future.