The aging fountain in Victoria Park is going to be replaced with a brand new one at a cost $272,550, after Moncton City Council approval last night.
General Manager of Recreation, Culture and Events Catherine Dallaire says the existing fountain is at the end of it’s life and public consultation revealed the local community wanted a replacement.
“There was tremendous feedback about the idea of having a multi tiered fountain so that you actually had the sound of water coming through the various tiers of the fountain,” says Dallaire. “But people also liked to have the reflecting pool at the base of the fountain.”
She adds the fountain will be accessible year round.
“The current fountain is quite large in diameter, and so while we could get a sidewalk snowplow around it, we couldn’t get the salt truck through it,” says Dallaire. “So this base pool is a little bit smaller, the diameter is smaller which provies us with enough room to get the sand onto the pavers.”
Dallaire said this was definitely a higher than anticipated cost because it’s more than just replacing a fountain, as the pipes underneath must be replaced.
“The services underground are also probably some of the first services we would have seen in Moncton,” says Dallaire. “So it will be interesting to see the area when it is dug up, because it isn’t very often anymore we see those original drainage and wastewater pipes in the city.”
Dallaire says they are going to install the fountain in Victoria Park this summer while trying to minimize the impact on scheduled events for the space.
