Functional sculpture — architecture of significance — is part of Greater Lansing's landscape from the state Capitol and much written about Frank Lloyd Wright house in Okemos to the bits of gingerbread that dangle from the eaves of your own home.

We are surrounded by it. There's a power and serenity at the treatment plant on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

And from the moment you approach the main door, you can't help but feel a sort of public nobility, a blending of dutiful functionality with art and symbolism.

Above the main brass doors of this 1938-39 art-moderne structure, you’re confronted with a concrete relief of Aquarius the water bearer, pouring water to infants, which represent Lansing.

Immediately inside the door is a ceramic sculpture devoted to the water theme. Around that sculpture two sets of grand stairs rise in a narrow lobby that is lined on three sides by hand-painted murals.

These federally commissioned works tell three stories: the destructive force of water, the nurturing ability of water and the role of water in industrial progress.

Turn left from there, and walk through the door and into a cathedral-like structure where rows of open pools turn underground reservoir water into drinking water and medical water.

Everything, from the gray of the concrete and the steel of the lamp fixtures and the logical use of silvery Oldsmobile car door handles on the control panels, feels as if it was meant to celebrate industry, progress and a tomorrow.

“You see the murals and there's a lot of power in them,” said Scott Hamelink, supervisor for water production operations.

His favorite piece is the mural that depicts the role of water in chemistry, shipping, forging and more.

“Every time I look at this,” he said, “I always see something a little bit different.” The building is featured in “Buildings of Michigan” by Kathryn Bishop Eckert. The plant treats 40 million gallons of water per day of what is essentially well water. Membrane filtration can give help for the water.