December 28, 2016 | Fountain Forecast: Back to Normal Soon!

Friends and neighbors: A new (Tuesday, Jan. 3) update on the state of the fountain:

According to Bruce Pratt, senior maintenance supervisor for the City of Berkeley parks department, the heavily soaped water in the fountain is scheduled to be drained off tomorrow morning and replaced. Ideally the fountain will be back to running as normal soon after.

Because improvements to the city sewer system have not been completed in the area of The Circle, the water drained from the fountain will have to be pumped out into a tank or truck, then transported to a manhole and deposited into the sewer. Otherwise it would enter the storm drains. So it is a bit of a process to do it right, but worth the effort.

We hope that this will get things back to normal around the fountain. It is unfortunate that this caused it to be shut down during this time of year when it is dressed up for the holidays, but our aim is always to make sure what is done is best for the fountain.

About those decorations: They would ordinarily come down this coming weekend, but the very wet weather expected will likely change that plan. So we may be able to enjoy the holiday finery for another week. Stay tuned.

And as stated in the earlier portion of this post: Thanks for your patience and support as we have worked to get things back on track. The support of our community is essential to our efforts to work with the city to care for this civic treasure. You can see all that we do here, and make a tax-deductible donation quickly and easily online here.

Previous post:

Friends and neighbors: Just a brief update on the status of the Fountain at the Circle.

As of this morning (Wednesday, Dec. 28), we were awaiting an inspection by city staff of both the mechanism that operates the fountain and the quality of the water in the fountain. Until that happens, we have shut down its operation. We are hopeful the city crew will get there this week to carry out the inspection and make and necessary repairs. In the meantime, the fountain will not be flowing.

The holiday decorations and lighting around the perimeter of the fountain island will remain up and lit through the first week of the new year. If all goes well, we’ll have things back to normal before then.

Thanks for your patience and support as we work to get things back on track. And if you are so inclined, before this year ends, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Friends of the Fountain and Walk, the all-volunteer neighborhood nonprofit that helps the city care for this civic treasure. You can see what we do here, and donate quickly and easily online here.