Scioto Mile Fountain's $15 million renovation starts summer with a bang
A delegation of young aquatic experts and afficionados from across central Ohio came to Bicentennial Park in downtown Columbus to evaluate the city's multi-million-dollar handiwork in repairing and recreating the intricate Scioto Mile Fountain over roughly the last two years.
The tension was palpable as the delegation watched in the hot sun while city officials commemorated the grand reopening with remarks, before turning a large ceremonial valve — blasting off streams of water up to 125 feet high toward the sky, from arching pipes and springing from the ground, drenching those who braved their way to the center of the deluge and the fog flowing from the structure.
The verdict from the young patrons of the wet adventure: Thumbs up. Good job. Nicely done. Keep it coming.
"It's just a really good experience having this so close to us. It's so convenient that you have these experiences in it, like there's fog, there's live music," said Bennett Conrad, 9, of Westerville.
"It's really cool," added a dripping wet Morgan Conrad, Bennett's brother. "Sometimes it will just shut off, and then there's a giant explosion," he said of the loud pops that announce geysers.
Asked how much time she could spend standing in the torrent before getting bored, Grey Smith, 9, estimated "four hours."
"The water and the explosions and the fog, and it's really nice on a hot day," Smith said.
The older kids gave the loud pops that announce the blasts of water shooting into the air their seal of approval. (But don't get downwind unless you're prepared to get rained on.)
"I didn't expect this," said Anthony Walker, 24, who had brought a group from the Kids Kingdom Childcare and Learning Center in Linden to the event. Just as he spoke, the pops went off again, startling him. "Right there! I didn't expect that. The first time I heard it I'm like: 'What is that?' Then I looked over and I'm like, 'That's actually pretty cool.'"
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"It's like very wet and cold," said Amonte Washington, 8, one of the Kids Kingdom group, who plans to return.
"The fog kind of like is fun," said Julian Powell, 8, part of the group that came from Westerville. "It feels like you're invisible, and other people are invisible, because you can't really see them."
The city and a Downtown civic organization created and controlled by the city entered into a $15-million partnership agreement to rip out and replace the former Scioto Mile Fountain, which after first opening in 2011 had gradually broken down into a leaking and expensive-to-maintain, computer-controlled cash drain. Construction closed the attraction for last summer.
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin was going with the flow at the Friday event, fashionably adorned in a shirt and sports jacket atop swimming trunks. He waded into the center of the storming fountain alongside the kids.
"We just opened up a world-class attraction for a world-class city," Hardin said after emerging from the fountain. "We want to make sure that this facility, this park, is open to everyone. It's going to be safe, we're going to have folks down here all throughout the day."
Joining Hardin was a giant frog, a very tall Aquaman, musicians and other dignitaries to turn on the fountain, which will continue to run seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. until the fall.
"It took us a year to get this back up and going," said Columbus Recreation and Parks Director Bernita Reese, thanking the community for its patience while the fountain plaza was ripped up and its network of underground pipe was replaced and reconfigured in a way that is intended to allow any future leaks to be repaired more cheaply. The original fountain's design allowed no maintenance access to the fountain's miles of pipes, which were buried beneath earth and concrete, requiring expensive excavation.
"Once we turn this on, we know you'll agree it was worth the wait," Reese said.
The fountain also has a smaller, less wild area for very young children, like Ayla Beebe, 2, of Bexley, wearing a sun bonnet. She slowly navigated it, putting her foot over the shoots of water popping up from the plaza. She was not a big fan of the pops, as evidenced by the I'm-close-to-crying look on her face when they went off.
She stared at the noisy device with a stiff lip.
"The loud popping sounds are a little intimidating, a little startling for the little ones," said Lyndsey Beebe, 30, Ayla's mom.
But that's the only problem with the new the fountain for the Beebe family.
"Hopefully she'll get used to it," Lyndsey Beebe said, because they plan on returning weekly through the summer.
@ReporterBush
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Scioto Mile, Bicentennial Park fountain's construction project done
