January 17, 2015 | FOUNTAIN REPAIRS BEGIN!

Friends and neighbors of the Fountain at The Circle:

Starting January 20, you’ll see a lot of activity around the fountain. A number of much needed repairs and upgrades will be taking place over the course of a few weeks, most carried out by city crews and contractors. During that time, the fountain will not be operating so that all the work can be done at once. If all goes well, and the weather cooperates, an improved and mechanically better fountain should begin flowing again soon. Here are the details of what we hope to accomplish:

> Replacing main pump and filter pump that make the fountain flow

> Replacing the lights in the middle bowl of the fountain; the current ones, which light up the bear cubs, have developed leaks

> Resurfacing the large fountain pool with new leak proof material

> Cleaning the fountain

> Using 3-D scanning to record and preserve the precise dimensions of the “art elements” of the fountain (bear cubs, volutes and finial), should they ever need replacing

The weather will be a key factor in how long the fountain will be turned off. The product being used to resurface the pool has to cure, and both temperatures below a certain point and any precipitation may require a longer curing period. We will have to leave the fountain drained for as long as needed.

We are hopeful that the fountain will be back up and running in just a few weeks’ time. We appreciate your patience while this work goes on – and your generous donations to Friends of the Fountain and Walk that have helped make all of it possible. You can follow the progress of the fountain improvements here; we’ll post regular updates with photos of the work.

Thanks again for your support of FOFW!