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Save the Eola Fountain!


spenser1058

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The Linton E. Allen Memorial Fountain was zapped by lightning and is currently inoperable. Due to the current problems with the City's budget, it's not possible for the City to make repairs at the moment. Many have been interested in what they could do about repairs and perhaps making long-needed improvements to the 52-year old fountain. For more information, please visit the Orlando Trust's website.

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Well if there is a $500,000 deductible I would imagine that a fundraiser could be started to raise those funds. Once the insurance proceeds are received they could partner with The Orlando Community and Youth Trust to fund the effort. I'm positive that grants exist for this purpose at the State or Federal level. I would start with the National Historic Trust for funding. I'm a big fan of the "Cast a wider net" philosophy when getting public benefit projects done.
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I think the Sentinel said it was $1.2MM to replace, but I would think to repair the fountain would fall under the $500,000 deductible; therefore, I doubt any insurance proceeds would be paid. I am all for doing what I can to support the repair/improvement of our City's #1 icon. I really don't think the fundraising would be difficult for this project.
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And what's the deal with that insurance policy, anyway????

One million dollars with a half million deductible???? Doesn't that sound just a little odd?

Why was the thing insured for a million even though it only costs half that to almost completely rebuild it??

Seems like it would've been a better deal to have it insured for half a million with a one hundred thousand dollar deductible.

Or maybe six-fifty with a one-fifty deductible.

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Why a new contemporary fountain? Does everything over 20 years old in this City have to be torn down, upgraded, replaced?

Fix it, and leave it as is. It's just fine. There are plenty of other places around Orlando well suited for a new contemporary fountain or whatever.

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I vote to replace the thing sooner than later. Corporate donation, beer festival proceeds, whatever, just fix it. $1.2MM will be a bargain by the time you total up the costs of leaving this issue on the docket at City Hall. Anyone know the yearly operational costs for the existing fountain? Can't be cheap, the damn thing works about as often as the people that gather around it every day for free food. I say flip the old one upside down, use it to catch bird poop, and then power the new fountain off of bird s***. A fountain powered by bird excrement, we can LEED certify that sucker platinum. Surely the feds will pony up some cash for that program: cash for creapers (sp?) anyone? On a serious note if this would have happened two years ago we'd be talking about a proposal that would shoot water so high it would require FAA clearance.

:alc::alc:

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What exactly does not work as planned?

I agree a one million policy with a half million deductible sounds a little - fishy - to me. Someone is pulling a fast one on that. However, I do think raising $500K would not be that difficult.

I am not a huge fan of that particular fountain - it looks kind of cheap to me. I think they either need to go with something bigger, something that is all about height and spray, or something quite a bit more impressive and visually interesting to look at as a fountain itself. But that is for further down the road - right now wok to getting the current one up and running and then look to replace it with something better.

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What exactly does not work as planned?

I agree a one million policy with a half million deductible sounds a little - fishy - to me. Someone is pulling a fast one on that. However, I do think raising $500K would not be that difficult.

I am not a huge fan of that particular fountain - it looks kind of cheap to me. I think they either need to go with something bigger, something that is all about height and spray, or something quite a bit more impressive and visually interesting to look at as a fountain itself. But that is for further down the road - right now wok to getting the current one up and running and then look to replace it with something better.

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I vote to replace the thing sooner than later. Corporate donation, beer festival proceeds, whatever, just fix it. $1.2MM will be a bargain by the time you total up the costs of leaving this issue on the docket at City Hall. Anyone know the yearly operational costs for the existing fountain? Can't be cheap, the damn thing works about as often as the people that gather around it every day for free food. I say flip the old one upside down, use it to catch bird poop, and then power the new fountain off of bird s***. A fountain powered by bird excrement, we can LEED certify that sucker platinum. Surely the feds will pony up some cash for that program: cash for creapers (sp?) anyone? On a serious note if this would have happened two years ago we'd be talking about a proposal that would shoot water so high it would require FAA clearance.

:alc::alc:

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I have to wonder sometimes- is anything sacred? worth saving? The White House is something of a shack compared to many palaces and "executive mansions" around the world- so should we just level it and build something befitting the world's greatest nation?

Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture often results in leaky roofs, too small rooms and ceilings on which many of us bump our heads. Should his designs be destroyed in favor of something more functional? (It's not a moot point - Florida Southern College in Lakeland had to make exactly that decision over the last few years and I'm proud to report they chose to keep their heritage.)

The Linton Allen Centennial Fountain has been around for over 1/3 of the City's existence, and has been a symbol of the city for much of that time. It was conceived in the late 50's when, as Martin came to town and Allen, Martin Andersen and Billy Dial were just beginning to make the plans for all that Orlando might become, it was a perfect symbol of a city that was dreaming big dreams but wasn't quite certain how to make them all come true. The plastic dome gave it a space-age quality befitting what was just starting to the east of us, and which helped to give those of us born here an almost limitless concept of what Orlando could be. The multi-colored lights really capture the flavor of the time much as the neon that is so treasured today but was cast aside in the '70's as gawdy. The size of the fountain is also perfect for what is not a very large lake. At the same time, the slightly less than grand quality of it is befitting the small citrus town past we were just leaving behind.

As I compare my upbringing with those from other southern cities raised at the time, I am often struck by how much more open we were in our thinking, not only in openness to growth but also to the idea of civil rights and respecting each and every person. The fountain captures those qualities.

Finally, it is our history. We could put in a model of the Trevi Fountain or the Buckingham Fountain in Chicago or any other, but it would be everything people chide Orlando's tourist attractions about - faux, not real, a cheap imitation of something else. NYC could tear down the Empire State Building and replace it with some of the much taller, much larger, much more impressive buildings now bewing built in the Far East. But who would do it? No New Yorker I know of.

The Eola Fountain is ours, it's our story. It should be restored to its original functionality or perhaps improved upon by using state of the art parts (it boggles to mind what they could do with the technology we now have they didn't have then). But that should be it. Heaven knows there's plenty of room for other fountains in other lakes around town. Heck, the Innoventions Fountains in Future World at Epcot have been going since 1982 and are already much grander. But the Eola Fountain represents who we were and I hope it shows who we are, that the pride of place that comes from rootedness is a quality we treasure in the midst of the transience we have endured these last couple of decades.

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Pretty intense there Spencer. As a current New Yorker and former Orlando resident I have to remind you that the Empire State Building wasn't built for DSL either, but it's been upgraded. As far as the construction of mega-towers in the middle east the city now coming off what's arguably been it's greatest architectural renaissance since the 1930's. (Cooper Union and the Bowery Area).

The article that generated this thread didn't go into details about what exactly didn't work as originally planned, but there's nothing wrong with correcting what's obsolete. Some here have stated that scrapping the existing fountain would work, but I personally would love to see the original restored, but get additional water features befitting of the creative center and entertainment capital that the city has become.

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Nice reply Spencer -- I read that Orlando Magazine article and was angered deeply by his dismissiveness of Orlando's past and willingness to destroy the quaintness and unique nature of Church Street, especially for the region. My letter to the editor should appear in their November issue.
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