As we explore our big city*, we discovered the great neighborhood of Fountain Square this week. As the guests of the folks at Green 3, LLC, we learned about that organization’s commitment to natural and cultural resources.
There was no more obvious reflection of that than the finishing touches being put on a large fountain at the intersection of Virginia Avenue and Shelby and Prospect Streets.
Dawn Kroh, the owner of Green 3, has been involved in the return of a fountain to Fountain Square for the better part of the last decade. With pride, she has watched its construction from her office window.
The fountain is a reproduction of ‘Lady Spray,’ the water nymph sculpture that originally served as a watering spot for horses when it was built in 1889. The Square has been fountainless for long stretches in the last several decades, but this 15-foot cast-iron, $650,000 project will be finished before Christmas. Made from an existing mold by Robinson Iron Works, that Alabama company had recently replaced the same historic fountain in Watertown, N.Y.
This is just one component of the ongoing revival of the Square, which sits just two miles from Center City. One of six cultural districts designated by the city in 2004, Fountain Square will be included on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, which will become part of the city landscape in the near future. Only four miles from our planned headquarters, we will certainly visit the Square again… and again.
* A reminder to my friends out East that Indianapolis is the country’s 13th-largest city, bigger than little burgs like Baltimore, Boston and D.C.
Indianapolis Cultural Trail from Gail Payne on Vimeo.
Noted philosopher
Glad to see Your Fountain is back We were without Ours for a few years also.
Thanks much, Steven. You must be in Watertown. I heard that your original fountain was the victim of an automobile accident. Is that accurate?
Brett, Actually, our fountain was the “victim” of a drunk climbing it.
Wow. Oh boy. Sounds like someone had an expensive night up there.
We are getting huge traffic here on Thanksgiving morning from northern New York, thanks to the folks at http://newzjunky.com. The funniest thing is that we had a visit from Chazy Landing in N.Y., a place that seems to be about a par-four or short par-five from Vermont. Vermont is the ONLY state East of the Mississippi yet to visit http://www.sbcworks.org. So if you know anyone from Vermont, please send them our way. :)
I used to live in Indianapolis and remember Fountain Square. Ironic that I now live in Watertown and both cities have the same fountain. Small world!