[Summit] Fountains

[Thomas A. Schmeling]

I'd love to see the fountain operating. Filling it in with dirt seems a shame.
The fountain in DePasquale Square seems to operate fine.  Is that city-owned?

Tom


At 11:59 AM -0500 1/3/08, Jonathan Howard wrote:
>As I've heard it, the rationale is about cost and technical 
>feasibility. Evidently the mechanism is damaged so there would be a 
>cost of restoration. The Director of Parks Alix Ogden also once told 
>me that our fountain does not recirculate water, so there would be a 
>high cost of the water itself, not to mention the water 
>waste.However, I can't imagine that recirculating the water is that 
>difficult a feat.
>
>The bottom line is we just don't know much. What's wrong with the 
>fountain if anything? What would it cost to fix? What other options 
>might the community prefer? What happens to the fountain if we fill 
>it with dirt? What conditions, if any, were attached to the gift of 
>the fountain?
>
>The action item from last fall's charrette just says: "Develop a 
>proposal for a planter in the Lippit Park Fountain, to be reviewed 
>and approved by the Parks [Department]."  Like a lot of plans, it 
>jumps to the solution before it defines the problem or the goal.
>
>I have just asked the Dept. of Planning what it would take to revise 
>this item to "Conduct a feasibility and cost study of restoration or 
>re-design of the Lippitt Park Fountain."
>
>In a neighborhood with little kids, I think an ideal water feature 
>should be a play space for under fives. One great example is the 
>water feature in Millenium Park in Chicago - there's a lot more to 
>it, but the basic design is just a large open paved area slightly 
>pitched to a drain down the center. Water flows down two structures 
>at either end to create a massive puddle less than an inch deep. 
>Kids love this. There's also a much more dramatic element - a giant 
>video of faces that spits out water, but most of the time it's just 
>a wet space. Everyone likes to get their feet wet.
>
>Jon

-- 
Thomas A. Schmeling
Dept. of Political Science
Rhode Island College
(401) 456-8722
"All my favorite songs have had lyrics I didn't quite understand" -Brian Eno