California Dept of General Services Proposes to Remove Capital Mall Fountain (Sacramento: 2014, law)

[NewToCA]

Proposal in conjunction with the 10 year plan to add and upgrade government buildings. It seems like the proposal to remove the fountain has more to do with failure to maintain it through the years. It hasn't been operating for almost a decade now, just sitting as a concrete circle.

It is a shame, and the turning off of the fountain seems like another one of those unnecessary symbolic exercises that apparently is popular in California.

One of our recent posters, Willliam Burg, is part of a group attempting to keep the fountain and have it operating again. Kudos to him:


A report published by the department in mid-July describing the proposed renovations cites “issues with electrical shortages in the fountain lighting, failure of mechanical equipment, leaks in the fountain bowl and associated valves, and a possible drain line collapse.”

...“The condition of Sacramento’s most prominent fountain is nothing short of a civic and state embarrassment,” wrote Sactown magazine editor Rob Turner in a 2014 letter to The Sacramento Bee shortly after Brown’s order.

...William Burg, president of Preservation Sacramento, said the fountain is “an iconic feature of Capitol Mall,” noting that the fountain is a component of the Capitol Annex National Register Historic District.

He recalled his past experiences looking at the Capitol from Tower Bridge: “You would see the Capitol in the distance, and these two buildings (the Unruh building and the Law Library) with the fountain in view,” he said. “It’s a distinct important feature to have this fountain as the centerpiece. It represents the state’s authority.”

https://www.sacbee.com/news/californ...234561252.html

http://www.sactownmag.com/Blog/2017/...inpostcard.jpg

[shelato]

Due to global warming, the region seems to have droughts more frequently. During droughts the fountain gets killed because the symbolism of it running is a bad photo op for who ever writes about water waste during that drought, additionally fixing broken fountains seems wasteful during recessions when public employee are being furloughed. As such the fountain ends up being off for long periods.

At this point, I think public fountains are relic from another era. Why not either replace it with some public art piece or do something else with the property?