Kansas City's fountains are source of pride, but money is needed to keep them flowing

If a city needs to be known for something, Kansas City lucked out with fountains.

The City of Fountains Foundation counts 131 on its exhaustive list of public and private fountains, with the profusion of water displays extending deep into the suburbs. But the fountain crown belongs to Kansas City.

The long burbled claim that our “City of Fountains” has more fountains than Rome apparently can’t be verified. But according to Mark McHenry, Kansas City Parks and Recreation director, who took a casual stab at surveying Rome’s fountains on a trip, Kansas City may win on at least one count:

“Working fountains,” McHenry said. “A lot of the ones I saw in Rome weren’t working.”

It’s a major challenge, though, to keep fountains working in Kansas City, too. The city spends $600,000 to $700,000 a year simply to maintain water flow in its 48 publicly owned fountains. It costs to keep the pumps and lights running and to keep them clean. It costs even more to repair those ravaged by time, the elements and vandals — $2.6 million, according to one recent tally.

Some renovation work is funded through the city’s 1 Percent for Art program, but, fortunately, the fountain foundation assists with public and private fundraising. Its Wish Upon A Fountain campaign has garnered a wave of $3.5 million in contributions since 2013. The funding, pledges and in-kind donations of engineering, construction and equipment have allowed work to begin on seven of the eight fountains identified in the poorest condition.

“What kind of place would this be without our fountains?” mused Pat O’Neill, who works on the Wish campaign. He’s still aiming toward a $250,000 goal to renovate the West Side Fountain on Southwest Boulevard. It’s only 15 years old, but the weather and water have damaged its Spanish tile and other parts.

As Kansas City’s calendar art, fountains touch hearts when need is broadcast. Several wealthy families, family and corporate foundations have turned on the tap to sponsor past and current fountain construction, reconstruction and maintenance. Names like Nichols, Bloch, Kemper, Helzberg, Hall, Garney, Dillingham, Kauffman, Stowers and Nutter are prominent on donor lists.

So, too are company names like Sprint, Burns & McDonnell, JE Dunn, Waddell and Reed, Cerner and Tension Envelope. Former Country Club Plaza owner Highwoods Properties poured a half million dollars alone into fixing the Seville Light Fountain at the eastern doorway to the Plaza.

Other families and individuals from throughout the Kansas City community also are memorialized at public fountain locations. Some of the names — Cuddy, Haff, Powell, Volker, Watkins, DiCapo, Rice, Pratt, Woods, Allis, Fitzsimons, Gillham, Benjamin, Steadman — are recognized as civic leaders; others make good trivia questions.

Whatever the reason behind a fountain, the city and those who love them have no desire to let them go dry. Fountains feed an ancient thirst for water, not just for drinking but for beauty and even entertainment. And what better location than a city founded at the confluence of two rivers, where flowing water brought commerce to the banks.

Once settled, the city’s earliest fountains were horse troughs. But city health and beautification drives gradually turned the practical into aerated artistry. Along parks and boulevards, dozens more fountains soon dotted city neighborhoods.

The city’s first big public water display was dedicated in 1898 at The Paseo and 15th Street. It succumbed to time in 1941. But a fountain on The Paseo just south of Ninth Street, dating to 1899, is the city’s oldest public fountain still in existence although repeatedly refurbished from its original form.

Development in the 1920s of the Country Club Plaza and nearby neighborhoods by J.C. Nichols added a jet stream of fountains in the city. Neighborhoods such as Armour Hills were decorated with small water works to add charm and identity.

It wasn’t until the 1970s, though, when a different trip to Rome sparked a concentrated push to celebrate Kansas City’s prized assets. Harold Rice, then a Hallmark Cards vice president, and his wife, Peggy, were sitting by Rome’s famous Trevi Foundation when they decided to create a fountain foundation for Kansas City upon their return home.

Civic leaders, including Anita Gorman, a fountains enthusiast later honored with a park named after her, jumped to encourage fundraising.

“When we first started fundraising for the first fountain in the Northland, we got some criticism,” Gorman recalls. “People said there were poor people needing help. Why were we spending money on fountains?”

That concern gnawed at her until after the Northland fountain was flowing. At a Salvation Army lunch, a woman, clearly in need of health and social services, asked Gorman if she was “the fountain lady.” Gorman cautiously admitted yes, to which the woman replied, “That Northland fountain makes me feel better every time I go past it.”

That, Gorman believes, is the strength of fountains — an appeal that cuts across all socio-conomic lines.

No surprise, then, that fountain fervor spreads far beyond public properties, becoming key architectural and design elements for countless office buildings, hotels, shopping centers, houses of worship and homes.

While endowments and developers’ wishes have fostered many fountains, some such as the Vietnam Veterans Fountain, dedicated in 1985, the Firefighters Fountain in 1991, and the West Side Fountain and The Concourse Fountain in 2002, involved grassroots or neighborhood campaigns.

Still others were born of a purposeful push for art. Some of the most famous sculptors in the world, including Kansas City residents Tom Corbin and Dale Eldred, have left fountain legacies. Internationally known artists and architects such as Carl Milles, Edward Larabee Barnes, Henri Greber, Wheeler Williams, Richard Hunt, Paul Jennewein and George Tsutakawa also have had Kansas City fountain commissions.

However notable the designer, however strong the construction, fountains need annual tune-ups. And they sometimes wear out or suffer extensive vandalism.

“A 20-year-old fountain is like an old man,” said Parks Director McHenry. “There’s always challenges. But we think they’re worth it. They add drama. Anyone can sit and enjoy them. And they’re a source of community pride.”

This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Kansas City's fountains are source of pride, but money is needed to keep them flowing."