DETROIT (WWJ) – It’s been a long time coming. It’s been about a decade since the Dodge Fountain at Detroit’s Hart Plaza has run and much longer since it’s been fully operational, but it’s getting new life.
Work to restore the fountain began on Tuesday, with crews taking apart all the pieces of the “one-of-a-kind” fountain, which first came to the city in the 1970s.
Some 300 jets, nozzles and other parts of the iconic fountain will be taken to be restored at a remote shop, before being reassembled at the plaza.
LaJuan Counts, Executive Director of the Detroit Construction & Demolition Department, says there’s no other fountain in the world like the custom Isamu Noguchi-designed fountain.
“That’s been part of our struggle. Because it is so custom. But we’re very hopeful that we’re gonna be successful in bringing it back,” Counts told WWJ’s Jon Hewett on Tuesday.
In its heyday, the fountain was complete with lighting and water shooting from hundreds of jets, cascading in upwards of 30 different patterns.
But over the years, the fountain began to decline, Counts said.
“It started with the jets. The jets became the biggest issue. There used to be water that would shoot up and water that would shoot down. We lost that function. And then we lost the lights,” Counts said. “And then it got to the point where we were able to turn on the fountain and it would, what we call, bubble. And we would have a little bit of water percolating from the top.”
Funded by money from the American Rescue Plan Act, city officials hope to have the fountain up and running by the time the NFL Draft comes to Downtown Detroit next April.
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