BANGOR – The group of elderly people took their time Wednesday afternoon climbing the 100 steps to the top of the Thomas Hill Standpipe, but the effort was well worth it, even with cloudy skies masking the view of Mount Katahdin.

“I think this is wonderful,” first-time standpipe visitor Marie Whitehill-Mairhuber, 86, of Bangor said. “I’ve been wanting to come up since I moved here in 1961.”

The stairs were a bit of a challenge, octogenarian Peggy Michie of Bangor admitted. “I’m a little short of breath, but I made it,” she said.

Despite an overcast sky, 385 people took advantage of the Thomas Hill Standpipe spring open house, about normal for an open house, according to a city official.

The standpipe is a 1.75 million-gallon steel water tank housed inside a 110-foot-high wooden building on the top of Thomas Hill. Four times a year it’s opened so the public can climb the stairwell and witness a panoramic view of the Bangor area.

Even with gray skies, the view was spectacular. Alongside the rolling hills and thick forests, a variety of Bangor and Brewer landmarks were visible, from the airport to the steeples of various churches.

The Thomas Hill Standpipe was built in 1897 after a dizzying six-month construction period. The structure still serves the same purpose it did when it was commissioned in the late Victorian era for water storage and to regulate the water pressure of downtown Bangor.

At one time, the standpipe was open to the public year-round. It was closed in the 1940s after an 11-year-old boy fell to his death while climbing the beams under the stairwell. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the public was allowed back in when the Bangor Historical Society decided to start supervised openings of the standpipe a few times a year as a fundraiser.

“We want to make sure no one gets hurt,” Don Cammack of the Bangor Water District said Wednesday, explaining the presence of four orange BWD trucks parked at the standpipe.

Three BWD employees were stationed on the observation deck to answer questions and help out if anything went wrong. Another three, along with a police officer, were deployed on the ground to control traffic, both foot and automotive. The water district is now in charge of the openings and keeps them free to the public.

An American flag snapped at the end of a 38-foot flagpole above the standpipe. Cammack said mountain-climbing rope is used to hoist it to the top. BWD employees periodically check on the flag to see how it’s handling the high winds.

Jacob Earl, 9, of Veazie was making his sixth visit to the standpipe, just before his afternoon baseball game. His mom, Marjorie Earl, joined him for the expedition.

“I really like it [up here],” he said, standing on the open deck and looking toward Bangor International Airport.

Asked when he made his first visit to the standpipe, Earl said, “When I was in my mom’s tummy.”

The standpipe will be open again 5-9 p.m. Wednesday, July 26. Hopefully, the clouds will have left.