After nearly ten years of idleness and six months of thorough renovation, the Dodge fountain at Hart Plaza in Detroit is operational again.
The city authorities gathered on Thursday to celebrate the completion of the restoration of the Horace E. Dodge and Son Memorial Fountain, valued at $6.7 million USD.
"Great public spaces can bring residents together and shape a city's identity. It has been hard to watch how, over many years, Detroit's large public areas declined, especially Hart Plaza and Dodge Fountain," said Mayor Mike Duggan.
On Thursday, when the fountain was running, small children approached closer and closer, some even coming from Detroit's waterfront and Spirit Plaza to feel its spray.
The fountain will operate from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 22:00 daily.
The restoration of the fountain is occurring while the city is investing $9 million USD under the American Rescue Plan Act into a 14-acre riverfront park. Federal funds allocated for pandemic response, which are to be distributed by the end of 2024, will not be enough for all the needs of the area, Detroit's operations director Brad Dick previously stated in an interview with The Detroit News.
The historic $2 million fountain was a gift to the city and was opened in 1976. A Detroit News editor participated in the creation of the fountain along with the then-mayor Jerome Cavan and the Dodge company. The fountain operated until the 1980s.
The fountain, an outstanding work by modernist artist Isamu Noguchi, features a stainless steel ring supported by two cylindrical pillars, soaring 24 feet above the pool of black granite. Its 300 water jets spray water upward and over the ring, then cascade downwards, forming a veil. The ring can independently create weather phenomena—fog, mist, clouds—while water from the central pool erupts as bubbles or shoots upward.
The restoration process included removing and replacing metal panels from the fountain's dome, as well as comprehensive repairs to the nozzles, lighting, and plumbing systems. Innovations include new metal panels, upgraded nozzles, unique water features, and LED displays. The fountain can operate for 700 hours without additional configuration.
Last summer, four engineers and a contractor needed to fill the fountain's reservoir for use during cultural events and music festivals, for which organizers spent at least $50,000 on activating the fountain's central part.
