Merrill Fountain

[Krawlspace]

So I have been trying to nail down an answer to a question which I had assumed would be much more forthcoming:

Did the Merrill Fountain function as it did in front of the Opera House after the move to Palmer Park in 1926?

I had always heard no, and my research seems to show 80% no and 20% yes. There are many references to the fountain and its history and relocation and current state. There's a five page thread from 2009 here on the site that covers a lot of ground including a grass roots [[pun intended) clean up by local residents. That thread talks of long time PP residents tentatively recalling functionality until the 1970's and even 1980's. I have also seen many references to the 1950's feasibility study by the City in which renovation was deemed too costly. This would seem to put the above mentioned recollections into doubt.

The only definitive thing I can find is the image of the fountain in PP on WSU VMC with the pools full of water and children dated to the 1920's. With the move having taken place in '26 this leaves an approximate window of 4-5 years after moving for the shot to have been taken. It might even be right after the move with a temporary hook up to "rededicate", and possibly never permanently plumbed. If you look closely at the WSU image there are indeed small spouts of water spilling from the lions. However the vertical spouts are not functioning, and the pressure doesn't seem to be very high. There is also an undated photo of the fountain in PP in Burton's collection, but it's a snapshot taken from a distance so it's a little hard to make out details. The pool sections are full of water it appears, but it doesn't appear to have any pressurized water jets.

So can anyone here say with certainty [[and hopefully with a source) whether the fountain was fully re-plumbed post-move, and if so for how long did it function after?

[EastsideAl]

I can't say anything definitively. But I can say with reasonable certainty that it had water in it in the mid 1930s. My mother, who lived nearby then in Highland Park, and spent a lot of time in Palmer Park, vividly remembered playing in and around the fountain on hot summer days and picnicking nearby with her parents and other family members.

At the time of the 2009 thread here [[she has since died) I remembered her talking about the fountain and spoke with her about what she recalled. She talked about playing in the fountain pool as shown in the VMC picture, and spraying her hot feet with water coming from the lions. She did not remember the water coming from anywhere else, or the fountain doing what is shown in the old pictures from when it was downtown. Although she said the drinking fountain part was working.

My guess is that the fountain was only partially plumbed in Palmer Park, and that the water may have only come into the pool from the lion spouts. For what it's worth, my mother also thought that this fountain, like most others in the city, was shut off during WWII [[although her family had moved away from the neighborhood by then). She thought that it probably had never been restarted, because the city didn't want to spend the money to make it water-worthy again.

[pkbroch]

Below is a link to a website that says the fountain has not worked since the 1950's. I can't vouch for 50- 60 years, but in the 40 plus years have lived in the Palmer Park area it has not been functioning.

http://historicdetroit.org/building/merrill-fountain/

Friends for Palmer Park might have an answer or a contact person on their website.

[pkbroch]

Correction, PEOPLE FOR PALMER PARK.

http://peopleforpalmerpark.org/